The Winged Fox
by SpeciallK
Summary: Follow Kazu, and his team through remarkable adventures to keep their Guild's name alive and powerful W.I.P


The Beginning

The sun hid behind the guild flag up in the sky, the flag shielding the sun from my eyes, and the newly found guild flag that hung above the giant wooden doors shielding the entrance of our guild, _The Winged Fox_. "Hey Kazu, Check out the new lounge we have got" exclaimed Koba. He had a grin on his face, bigger than I've ever seen before his eyes were green in color, and his hair had never looked so yellow before, his hair was tied back into a pony tail, but the hair in the pony tail was pointing backwards, a simple blue buttoned down shirt with white pants was good enough for him. My style was similar in a way a simple white trench coat the was cut above my knees, a black tank top with black bagged shorts that I use to workout with and a white belt, my hair bright blue color almost like the sky, but with a bit more contrast and darkness to it, my eyes were like a bottomless pit, black and dark like the night sky without the illuminating moon to brighten them. I headed towards Koba and we entered the guild hall together, looking around I watched all of the guild member's laugh and drink to good times, Koba stood with his elbows on a hinge and his hands touching his hips, "Isn't this great Kazu, everything that we have today, what we had a few months ago was almost nothing, just a small building on the side of a road, but look at how much of a success we are now" Koba said while looking forward with that smirk that he had on his face. Without looking at him I responded "Yeah this is definitely something we have, I just can't decipher what it is yet" he laughed a little bit and then we walked towards the bar together. Pointing at Hoinouko and asking her for the regular, her purple dress with the roses on the side were stunning; her hair was breathtaking, the way that her blonde hair shined underneath the chandeliers that hung from the ceiling above our heads was amazing, and it sparkled just like her eyes, a more darkened blue. The lights hung over our head and swung back and forth constantly, the candles never blew out though, and they just hung there, and watched over our heads with their dimmed lights that barely reached the floor. "Kazu, here" Hoinouko slid the drink down the counter and tossed Koba's drink to him through the air, we both nodded in gratitude and she went back to cleaning the dishes. Markiz approached the counter and called out to Hoinouko "Hey when am I going to get to take you out on a date". Markiz was an odd looking man, he was about thirty five years old or so, his hair was a darkened green and pulled back into a ponytail. Scars going vertically down his left eye, probably from a bar fight judging by his personality. Hoinouko shrugged her shoulders and scrunched up her face in absolute disgust. Markiz grabbed her by the shoulder and pulled her in closer to him, she tried to push away but wasn't strong enough. I reached out and punched him across the mouth, Markiz not moving very much due to his size. He let her go and started snarling. "What's so funny Markiz? Afraid you can't take me?" I smirked on one side of my face. "You sure that you want to do this Kazu, because I've been waiting for this for a long time" he stood up straight and readied his fists. "Oh I've never been more certain about anything, but if you want to fight a fifteen year old that's on you" Hoinouko ran over to me and grabbed my arm, "don't do this Kazu, you don't have to, you're going to get hurt". Without looking over my shoulder "don't worry about it, just make sure I get a free drink next time" she ran over to Koba and I heard her nagging him to come and fight with me, but I didn't want to drag him into this. Markiz swung his fist from above his head and hurled it downwards at my head, stepping to the left and throwing a right cross was enough to make him stumble quite a bit. The entire guild stood up and made a circle around us, roaring the word "fight" at the top of their lungs. The guild master stood on the balcony above us and watched over us like an eagle, his eyes were like guns, you never wanted them to be pointing at you with such anger held back. "Markiz, this is your very last chance to quit" Markiz started to swing his fists fully fletched towards me, all of them connecting to my ribs. His hands were soaring through the air like bullets and connecting like they were magnets. After his fury started to die down, he landed one last hit across my eye and it knocked me sideways making my head clash with the ground. The newly put down hardwood floors were now going to be stained with my blood. Getting up onto one knee I pounced upwards trying to punch him in the jaw, but he locked his arm underneath with mine, and threw me through the table behind me. I lied there on the floor hoping that I could find the strength within me to get up, lucky for him I wasn't able to use my magic on him, so I couldn't use any of my real strength and power. I faced the floor on my hands and knees, my back was high in the air and my energy was lessened, I felt a body run off of my back and leap, my body hit the floor quickly afterwards. I looked left and I saw Koba now trying to fight Markiz on his own. Koba was throwing rights and lefts and kicks all over the place. Markiz was in a completely dazed state at this moment and right as I was about to get up, a voice started talking to me in my head "stay down, Koba can take him without you Kazu" spoke the voice. It was a high pitched voice, clearly being a girl. Koba jumped upwards and swung his foot around connecting with Markiz's jaw. Just hearing his jaw crack was painful just listening to it. Markiz went down onto one knee; Koba walked up to me and brought me back onto my feet, getting me up was painful but bearable. "I hope that will teach you to stay away from Hoinouko" Koba put my arm around his shoulder, we started to walk away together but Markiz cried out again "Can't finish me, can you?" Koba grabbed my arm and raised it upwards, holding it up like I actually one the fight. The guild went silent, and then screamed with joy and excitement "Koba and Kazu" they chanted. Koba grew a smile on his face and looked downwards and the newly polished wood floors. We exited past the doors and I heard another voice "Kazu! Wait!" I turned my head around to see a brown haired girl run in the distance towards me, her voice was so familiar. She caught up to the two of us and grabbed my wrist, forcing me to turn around and face her. Her eyes were a dark brown, almost black like mine, and her hair was a ponytail in the back but long down the sides, almost to her shoulders, she wore a purple t shirt that was plain, a bit loose on the shoulders and bright blue jean shorts that were faded white. "I was the one who spoke to you while you were down, I know what you're thinking due to the look on your face, I use telepathic magic". My face was still puzzled and one thing didn't make sense so I asked "That all sounds great but, how did you get in to the guild hall if you're not a member?" She lifted up her sleeve and there it was the winged fox on her arm. "I'm a new member here at the guild and I was hoping maybe I could make some new friends" I looked over at Koba and nodded, he did the same, we both said simultaneously "Yeah". I then said on my own "Koba and I are always looking to make new friends" She smiled and wrapped both of her arms around our necks and pulled us in to her, wrapping our arms around her, I moved my head right to see Koba's cheek grow red with flame. She let loose of her threatening grip and backed up from the two of us, smiled and started pushing us forward. Sapphire stood in-between us and started stirring up a conversation between the three of us. "So how long have you been a part of the Winged Fox Koba?" Sapphire said. "Well I've been in the Winged Fox for almost as long as Kazu has, about eight years or so to be exact". Sapphire looked kind of puzzled and asked "Wow why would you want to join a guild when you're so young?" Koba shrugged his shoulders, "I was raised by a dragon, I use Dragon slayer wind magic". Sapphire's jaw dropped with awe and confusion, and she tried putting her words together but just couldn't, all that came out was just mere noises and grunts. "But hey, don't give me all the attention, Kazu uses his own special type of magic, a magic like no other, it's what you would call blue lightning magic." I looked down and started to smirk feeling flattered. "So you two must be like the best in the guild right?" Sapphire asked excitedly. Me and Koba looked at each other and started to laugh but held it in a bit more than we should have. "Sapphire our guild is a group of extraordinary people, no other is like ours, we may be good, but not as to so good where we are the best" I exclaimed with ease. The buildings that we started to pass were getting more and more modern. They were made of a rich type of marble, some made with simple red bricks that were astonishing, and others made of fine cement with a mix of marble and brick. The windows were elegant, tall and some even stained to match the exterior. The town hall was coming up in front of us, the fountain that had lye in front of it was spewing out water so clean that you could bathe and even drink it. A crystal blue mesmerizing to the eyes, the town's people would walk around through the markets and pass the gallows. The gallows were a tool used only very rarely; we lived in a very formal society where it was wrong to kill publically. If someone was to be killed it was to be done where only the people that had to perform the poor task could see. "My house is up ahead" Koba interrupted me in between "don't you mean our house Kazu". I leaned forward in front of Sapphire and looked at Koba, a smile grew on the right side of his face and he started laughing. Sapphire's jaw dropped down, and we stood still in front of our house. The towns people started to crowd the streets a bit more, the people brushed up against my coat, apologizing and moving along, or just simply ignoring us and heading forward. "Is this really your guys' house, or are you joking, because this is incredible for people your age" Sapphire exclaimed. Koba and I proudly said "It takes quite a bit of work, but it's not as great as you think". "Are you kidding?" This is one of the greatest things I've ever seen" said Sapphire again. The house stood tall on its base, and it was pretty big in width as well. Fined sand that was smooth, mixed with some marble, the windows on the house were tall, but now very wide. There was cement stairs that led up to the double glass door outlined with oak wood. "Sapphire if you would like, instead of staying at the guild, you can live here with us". Sapphire turned around and smiled with her eyes widened "Would you let me?" She exclaimed with excitement. "Yes you can, but Kazu and I are going to go finish something, we will meet you at this restaurant called The MagicShack. Do you know where it is?" Koba explained. "Yeah I do actually". "Perfect we will meet you there at about nine thirty or so, so make sure your there. Just let yourself in our house and make yourself at home" Koba started to pull me as he walked away. "Alright well here's what we have to do Kazu", I nodded for him to continue, "There's a group of eight men, there may be even more, but the poster isn't that descriptive of whom we are taking out. All it says is where we are going, and why". "Well why are we doing this" I asked Koba. "These people were believed to kill the wife of the man who sent us to do this". "And where are we going to find these men?" I asked once more. "Well somewhere off pier thirty nine". I nodded once more to signal that I understood what he had to say. "But there is still one problem, wait, there's two actually, how many joules are we getting for this, and what are their names?" "Well only one of the names is listed here" Koba struggled to get the poster out from his bag, after wiggling it through the satchel it read "Mozemt". "That's a strange name, but what about the money?" "It says seventy five thousand joules". "Wow, that's quite a payday" I said to Koba. We started to walk towards pier thirty nine, it wasn't that far, only a mile or two from where we were standing, south to be exact. Neither of us spoke a word to each other, and I think it was because we both had a lot to think about. Between what happened earlier with Markiz and the whole new roommate scheme was a bit odd too. My only real worry though, was what the master had to say about my little fight earlier with Markiz. The moon started to raise high above our heads, untouchable by man, like a god to us. The stars that lingered in the night sky were bright enough to light up a whole town, very few hung there though. Scattered behind clouds that haven't disappeared yet, and touching the base of the moon. The threshold between us and them was immense, as was the Night sky itself. The townspeople wrapped themselves in expensive fur coats and animal furs to keep warm during the harsh winter night. For the people that couldn't usually didn't walk the streets during a winter night, they would sit in front of a fire pit, or chimney to stay warm and gather with others in the same household. "Koba?" I said. "What is it Kazu?" "In case we don't live to see the" Koba interrupted me, "Trust me when I say, we can take these guys, and there's no chance we aren't coming out of this alive" We stood beside the railway that went directly towards the pier. "Oh there is one more thing, the man wants us to say this" Koba told me what to say and we started heading towards the end of the docks. The docks were a place where most criminals would come to share tales of what devious deed that they had done to that day. There were six wooden boxes, about half the size of the average man. All of the criminals sat on top of the crates, except one he gazed into the ocean as if he was undecided on a current confliction, his arms crossed and his palms tucked into his armpits. His arms popped out of his shirt because of his muscularity, there were four other men besides him, and they all sat on the crates huddled together in a circle. Koba approached the men, me trailing a few feet behind him, with my hands behind my back. "Which one of you fine gentlemen go by the name Mozemt" Koba asked. The man standing on the pier looked over his shoulder, and snarled, "That would be me, now what are you doing here, you're just a kid". "I may be just a kid, but I'm the kid who's going to wipe your floor across the concrete below our own feet". Mozemt tried to speak but I interrupted him and raised my hand, holding my finger upwards with my palm forwards. "You're just another one of the criminal scum aren't you? Nothing more than a mere scab on the face of the crime industry, you and all of your thug friends think it's okay to do what you do, but tonight, tonight I won't let you walk away with more than an inch of your life, and that goes for all of your scum friends, because what I've done today it's more important than your entire life" I nodded towards Koba, showing him that what I had to say was done, and he nodded back. "You two kids aren't going to see the light of tomorrow" exclaimed one of Mozemt's crew members. Koba grew a smug look on his face, lifted up his arm and a burst of wind shot out from his palm, flipping the man over as he tumbled across the cement floors. The crash of water that shot upwards had everyone's head turned to it, and they all turned to face us at once. I slipped my trench coat off my shoulders, and it hovered back to the ground as it slowly folded up. I spread my feet apart, and bent my arms upwards, the blue circle of lightning below my feet started sending enraged bolts up wards, until one bolt arose from the circle, and it spun horizontally. Stretching my arm out I grasped the bolt, and held it as a blade. I looked through the bolt and spotted my first victim. Dodging and weaving in between shots of fire was difficult, crossing my arms and dismissing the fire magic with the lightening that I used as a shield. He was afraid of his fate, scarcely aiming his hand at the ground and shooting a patch of fire, hoping to distract me so he could run. The fire started to create an immense and dense smoke. It was hard to look through the smoke, so I didn't; I got down onto one knee and held my hand to the concrete that was warmed with fire. With my head down and my ears up, I heard the man cowering and shrieking with fear silently to himself. "Koba, I need a burst of air over here!" Koba lifted up his closed fist and pointed it towards the smoke in front of me; his magic circle appeared and started to spin. The triangles spun within the triangles and the color was a light ash, like the concrete beneath our feet. Koba released a powerful burst of air that slid me to the right with my feet still planted firmly to the ground. The smoke quickly cleared out and I spotted the man, he was to my left, he stood up and screamed with all of his might, he started to throw misfiring balls of fire at me, almost none of them hitting me or even coming close to skimming my skin. I dashed towards the man, hitting the balls of fire with the blade of lightning I now held with two hands. When I finally got close enough I put the bolt through his chest, it wouldn't kill him, the bolt went through his chest, but it never actually pierced his skin. He twitched on the ground due to the mass absorption of lightning. Koba looked like he was getting angrier as he was fending off all of the criminals, and once he finally had enough, I would pity the poor soul that has to fight him, or be on the other side for that matter. Koba spit out an extraordinary amount of wind that collided with three of the men in front of him, he ripped his shirt off of his body because of the holes that were infused with the shirt. All three of the men tumbled against the ground until they rolled off into the ocean. Mozemt looked startled; I don't think he knew we were going to be this much trouble for him. Two men had lye in front of me, the man on the far left was dressed in a brown trench coat and the man on the right was shirtless. They both did the same steps with their magic. They quickly grabbed each other's hand, and held up the other, a wind like no other came towards me, I believe it was even stronger than Koba's wind. The wind hit me even after I tried to dodge it, I didn't have any chance to escape. My body went back about fifty feet or so and my back drilled against the concrete, I started digging into the concrete. Tightening my back as I started to slow down, I rocked back and forth out of pure irritation with them and got up. "Now that my friend was a mistake" I clenched both of my fists and sparked a disc of lighting around both of my fists, and slowly more appeared until I felt like I had enough to put them down, I whipped both of my arms forward and the discs would fly outward towards the men, although there wasn't many, the faster those discs went the harder they were going to hit. I started to dash after my discs, trying to compete with their speed, trailing behind them a jumped upwards, whiplashing my arms to go even faster this time and releasing another two discs of lightning to hit the two men. Rolling back onto my feet I watched the two men absorb the lightning and collide with one another. I looked to my left and watched as Koba slowly took his time to toy with his opponent in front of him. The man was using reequip magic to fight Koba. Koba was tossing him around like a doll, "Koba finish things up over there will you!" Koba looked over his shoulder and smiled at me, without looking he swiped his hands in an x motion and released blades of air to pierce through the man's armor. The man didn't collide with the water, but went down onto one knee instead. "Please, let me go, I won't tell anyone of what happened here, plea-"Mozemt released a metal chain from his palm, wrapping it around the criminal that had lye in front of us, and pulling on the chain. The man disappeared leaving only a trail of ash behind. Me and Koba both looked up from the man, and slowly and carefully walked towards Mozemt. Koba and I stood about fifteen feet apart, parallel to one another. Koba spoke first "You know that you won't make it out of here alive don't you?" Mozemt scrunched up one side of his face and then snarled. "You two teens are going to be ridded from this world after I'm done with you. Mozemt shot another chain, but this time it hit me, wrapping its way around me, slowly getting tighter and tighter I started to fall. Koba tried to shoot a blade of air at Mozemt, but he was able to dodge the swipe of air, the chain shrunk smaller and smaller around my body, and I started to feel light headed. "I'll give you one last chance to let go of him Mozemt" Mozemt without listening made the chain so tight that I felt paralyzed and had now rolled onto the ground. "Good Luck" Koba said before stepping back about ten or twelve feet. Koba engulfed himself in air and started to rise from the ground, placing his two index and middle fingers in front of him forming an x like shape. He released a heavily concentrated amount of wind that stormed through the air, then connecting with Mozemt and knocking him into the ocean. I was still connected to the chain as I whipped upwards into the air and then sped towards the ocean, but Koba released one more blast of air to hit the chain and free me from its being. I collapsed with the floor, still feeling light headed I tried to stand up on my own two feet. I was about to fall once more, but Koba grabbed my arm and pulled me to my feet, holding me up straight. "Quite the performance Koba, quite the performance" Koba smiled one last time, "Come on we have to go meet Sapphire". We starting walking back from the docks, on the way I dropped down to pick up my coat, putting it back on my body to warmth myself from the cold, Koba just kept walking, breathing out a frostish air. The night was growing colder with time, and the moon rose higher up into the sky. "I might have to start wearing pants now, this might be the coldest winter we've had since we were kids" I said while half laughing. "Yeah I think your right; we don't need you getting sick". We reached the streets of town, and all of the pedestrians started to clear out of the road. There were the occasionally few men that would linger around the street corners whistling at woman, or harass nearby men. You had to walk with someone at this time at night, even though it wasn't that late at night, it was the winter, so the sun set early and the moon rose in all of its glory. We weren't exactly far from where we had to be, I was able to tell once we started to see the nicer buildings. The way the people dressed was starting to be more efficient for the temperature. The cool air tried to sneak its way into my jacket, so I closed it tight and tucked my arms into one another to try and stay warm. My legs shivered as well, they felt like they were almost frozen solid, completely tolerant to feeling. A light snow started to lightly fall down onto our heads, "Wow it's getting cold out isn't it Koba" Koba looked like he was about to freeze with his shirt left behind. He was just wandering in the cold, like one without a purpose, someone who didn't have any actual belongings. "We need to get you into something warmer Koba, and quickly" Koba didn't have much to say, so he just didn't, he nodded to agree with me, and we walked faster and faster to avoid being caught in the cold winter night. "Are we going to the house Koba?" he nodded yes and we hurried a bit more through the wind that was now going against us rather than with us. The wind brushed up against my legs as I started to regain a feeling in my shins. Some of the snow on the ground started to turn into ice, rather quickly actually. I could see the snow slowly creep upwards on the curb of the sidewalk, and watched as the ice expanded outwards. The house sat in front of us now, not being far from where the restaurant was. Koba dashed up the stairs to the glass door, whipping the door open and then running inside faster. I could see him drop onto his knees in the main hallway and breathe in the warmth of the air inside the house. We always left the fireplace on, and I'm sure sapphire tossed in a few more logs to stay warm. I'm also sure you spent most of her time rummaging through our belongings. Koba took his time to stand back on his own feet, but I couldn't blame him for how cold he must've been. His arms must've been covered in a thin layer of ice, to the point where only a microscope can see it. His skin looked dry though, even from a distance I could tell. From the space in between us I was still able to see him move towards the stairs, finally regaining all of his feeling, he rushed his way up the flight of stairs. I could see the red carpet trimmed with a foilish golden color scrunch up together to bunch into a roll. It took Koba a few moments to get ready, but when he finally got out of the house he told me the two of us were late by almost a half hour. Koba grabbed my arm and started to pull me with him as he sped up, we started to sprint faster and faster until we were at our maximum speeds. "Koba do you smell that? Something smells really good" Koba's cheeks grew red even with the cold air touching his skin with force because of how fast we were running. "That's just my cologne" Koba said silently but loud enough for me to hear. "Koba do you like, Sapphire" I said with a nudging smirk on my face. "Shut up Kazu" he smiled back at me. It wasn't long until we arrived at the MagicShack, and once we stood in front of it I could see why they call it the "MagicShack". Even though I was almost positive something was going to spark between the two of them, deep inside I hoped that something wouldn't. It's not that I want to date her myself, it's just the principle of dating her would be wrong. I don't think either of us should even try, but to tell Koba that now would be wrong. I have to wait and see how things would play out between them, because if there was for something to be there, I wouldn't want to intervene with that. If there's one thing more powerful than magic, it has to be the power within love. The building was outlined with a reflective mirror, being able to see the two of us stand there together meant something to me, even though I wasn't able to pinpoint what it was. There was a short column of stairs that had lye down in front of the door similar to ours. It had a glass inside, but the outline of a chromed mirror. We rushed up the stairs, Koba in front of me due to his feelings of being too excited. The two of us spotted Sapphire to the right of us, fiddling with the fork and spoon in front of her, looking depressed about something, clearly being that we showed up much later than anticipated. "Sapphire!" Koba cried out, than rushing over to the booth and sliding in opposite to her. "We are so sorry, we ran into a bit of-. Sapphire interrupted him, "I know, the two of you didn't think the thugs were going to be a problem, it's okay" Koba and I look puzzled, staring at each other, I then slid into the booth along with Koba. "But how did you…. I completely forgot that you have the ability to read minds Sapphire" Sapphire looked kind of depressed, she tried to hide it, but I can read people to well. "Sapphire there's something I need you to promise me" I said scared of what she was going to say. "What is it?" I moved my hands in a rotating gesture and said "I don't want you to ever read my mind, or Koba's for that matter" Sapphire answered quickly without hesitation "Sure, just as long as you won't keep me waiting to eat, because boy am I starving" She smiled, lifting up her arm and waving for the waitress to come and take our orders. Koba and I ordered the same thing Sapphire had to dismiss the hassle. When the waitress came back around she brought a tray of noodles, three decorative bowls, they were a light teal with a white ring around the bowl. When everyone started to eat the conversation lowered to a minimum of slurping and grunts. Surprisingly they all came from Sapphire. Koba was lucky that I was able to convince Sapphire to not have her read our minds like a common day book. Koba constantly looked up to Sapphire to grasp just a quick glance of her eating her food. It was sweet in a way, but creepy in another to an extent. I never knew Koba could grow so attached to a girl before, because he never really showed that much of an interest in them before. Obviously he liked girls to begin with, when we were about thirteen years old, we used to grab ice cream and rate girls based upon their looks as they would walk by the corner of the ice cream store. There was a green bench that was placed up against the corner of the building. It was practically known as our bench in that neighborhood. My mother was always yelling at us to do something productive like work with my father, but we never would, only telling her we were going to was satisfying enough. That bench really meant something to us in a strange way, it had a strong sentimental value to it. I even had my first kiss with a girl named Samantha on that bench. I don't get to pass it much anymore, once I turned fourteen I moved out of the house because I finally saved up enough money. Every now and then my father would come and check up on me after he got off work, but sometimes I wish Koba and I could just go back to the old days, there were no problems then, and it was simple work we had to get done. Sapphire brought me back to reality when she pushed her bowl forward to clash with Koba's who sat in front of her, my eyes spun around my head until I zoned in on the bowls. "And that's how you eat noodles boys, now I hate to cut short but, I'm feeling kind of tired. Do you mind?" "No not at all" Koba explained. "We will cover the check and everything, it's the least we can do for being so late" Sapphire smiled and lunged over the table, wrapping both of her arms around our necks. "You guys are the best; I'll see you at home?" Koba said yes and then she slid out of her booth. She got up and walked towards the door, wrapping her coat around herself and then proceeding out the door. Koba told me he would cover the check and dismissed me to pursue Sapphire. I slid out of the booth. I heard a high pitched shriek in the distance, not too far, I saw a few men circle Sapphire and dragged her into an alley. I grabbed my coat and raced out the door; I jumped over the stairs and kept on running. Koba screamed out behind me "Run Kazu! Hurry!" Koba shortly caught up to me and was side by side to me. I don't think either of us cared about the weather, adrenaline starting pumping into my veins and my vision became clearer, my senses grew stronger, and I felt bigger. The both of us heard the shriek one more time, and then a muffled one followed. I turned the corner into the alleyway and stood there with Koba next to me. We saw the men tossing her around the alleyway like she was nothing, scavenging through her purse and slowly taking their own worthless time to beat her around. "HEY!" Koba shouted out, all of the men looked up and stared Koba in the eyes. "GET OUT OF HERE!" One man had the nobility to rush up and try to fight Koba, little did he know of how powerful of a wizard he was. As Koba was about to blow out a wind more powerful than any other, An arrow came from the rooftops high above, striking the man in the back of his head, knocking him unconscious, The men still trying to hurt Sapphire, grabbing her wrist and raising it to the wall, pressing down with all of their might. A teenager who looked about our age dropped down from the roof, he was wearing some form of a light armor, it was black, and along with the shoulder pads he wore, as well as his pants and boots. He had a red bandanna wrapped around his head; his hair went above it only on the sides the rest of it pulled backwards into a bun. It looked like it was brown, but I couldn't see at this time of night. He slashed his bow downwards to crush one of the men's skulls. I heard the crack of his bow, which glowed with the light that surrounded it; I spotted the Winged Fox symbol on his hand as it stayed tightly clenched around his bow. I took the liberty to run into the alleyway and help fight the men off along with Koba, but, I was too baffled to 3actually fight with any real anger, I just blocked the men's punches with my forearms, and grabbing their skulls and smashing it against the wall, with the puzzled look on my face that I displayed to the public earlier when Sapphire read Koba's mind. The kid rolled backwards and sat up one knee with his bow held sideways, pulling his hand behind his back, I saw the magic circle glow; he placed the arrow against the string and pulled it backwards until it was ready enough to release with the right force. The arrow pierced through his skin, listening to the arrow plunge through his skin was enough to disgust Koba. Koba was a gentle person, until pursued with anger and other traits of the bad. The kid disregarded the fact that we were there, he was in the middle of his own show, and it was definitely a show I would like to see. All of the men finally got off Sapphire and started to fight us all now, Every time I would try to use my magic, I was too scared that I would hit Koba; the space was too small for me to release my magic, especially when I was so mad at what just happened to Sapphire. The risk was too high for me to hit an ally next to me, so I lit my hands with blue lightning and looked into them, using them as boxing gloves I started to throw punches in the men's way not holding back. I spotted one man in particular with a black beanie wrapped tightly around his head to shelter himself from the cold. He charged his way towards me, throwing a right cross from his side. His hands were huge; the impact shifted my jaw back into place from my previous fight with Markiz earlier. I stepped backwards to regain some self-control, without a warning my body suddenly turned my blue lightning fists hotter, making my own body angrier. It must've been a reflex for my body to act like that. I threw a combination of punches, with a finishing blow to put the man onto his back and start dreaming. There was only one man left, he was afraid of his fate, but how could I blame him? "You're going to pay for this you filthy scum" Koba said then running up and left hooking him in the mouth. The man fell over and laid flat on his stomach. The kid that helped fight the thugs stepped forward, a bit closer to the light. "My name is Carter; I decided to help your friend here after I spotted the Winged Fox on her shoulder" his voice was raspy, kind of deep, but monotone in its own way. "Are you alright?" Carter asked Sapphire as she was still shaking; she slowly slid down to the ground and tucked her knees into her chest, wrapping her arms around them to bring them even closer. "If you're from the Winged Fox, than how come I've never seen you before?" I asked. "I actually just joined this afternoon, a little bit after some kid got into a fight with an older man, I didn't know who it was though, and would you happen to know about who it was?" I smiled, and then laughed, "That would be I who fought the older man, and his name was Markiz. I was protecting a friend he was trying to harass; I don't take well to that sort of stuff". I chuckled once more to signify how I felt about that situation. Koba ran over to Sapphire and wrapped his arms around her, helping her up and holding her tight, she held him back with her arms, their hands were interlocked. Carter put his hand on Sapphire's shoulder making her turn around to face him, both of their eyes widened and Sapphire let go of Koba, "Thank you for saving me, Carter is it?" Carter shut his own eyes a bit and gazed deep into Sapphire's. His eyes were a bright green, like grass in the fields of a farm. Koba's face grew with jealousy and rage. I was able to see it in his eyes, the way that he looked at Sapphire, and the way Sapphire looked at Carter, it was an obvious thing to see. "Yeah, I was thinking maybe we could do something after this, I'm sure you've had a rough night after all of this, and you should go have a bit of fun" Carter said persuasively. "I actually don't think that's a good idea Sapphire" Koba interrupted. I could see it that within Carter he wanted to destroy Koba at that moment, and the one that followed was not going to be much better. "Koba, I don't think that's a decision for you to make" I grabbed Koba's arm trying to pull him towards me, signaling that he should back off before things get bad. "Actually Carter, I think he's right, I'll see you at the guild anyway so maybe we can do something there?" Carter looked angry with Koba, he looked past Sapphire and stared at Koba, Koba was staring right back. I could see the veins popping out of the side of Koba's head, and the vein on his neck as well. "Come on boys, let's go home" Sapphire put her hands on our chests and started to push us backwards. "Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow Sapphire" Carter yelled from the distance, her cheeks started to grow red with fire. We wandered off into the night, finding our way back home. Soon after we left Carter behind Koba spoke to Sapphire, "He's not right for you Sapphire, you should stay away from a guy like him" Koba said jealously. "I don't think so, he seems right for me, and it's only a plus that he saved my life tonight" Sapphire snapped back. "Hey, I helped to you know Sapphire" I answered to her with a joking tone. Sapphire smiled and told me she knew I helped; I nodded my head and kneeled down quickly. "He seems like bad news, Sapphire I'm telling you otherwise, and I would appreciate if you would listen to what I had to say." Sapphire ignored what he said and kept walking, but instead of the middle, switching to my left to avoid Koba. I could tell why Sapphire was so upset with Koba, and I don't even think she was upset with him, she was just flat out mad. Koba didn't understand that she didn't like him the way he thinks she does, and now that she's met a guy that has done something miraculous like Carter, he's just finally been hit with reality. The sooner that Koba wakes up from his own reality the better, and I don't like thinking things like this, I just want Koba to be happy before things get out of hand. The house was a few blocks down and the temperature dropped down a substantial amount. With the weather being below freezing, and the tension between Koba and Sapphire, I didn't know what could happen. Nobody spoke for the rest of the time we were outside; it was silence and the sound of breathing was the only thing that polluted the air around us. When we finally arrived at the house nobody spoke to one another, everyone went to their separate rooms. There was a tension in the air of the house, it found its way into every room, every corner, and digging its way into every piece of furniture. Sapphire wedged her way in between my door, twisting from the hallway into my room by still hanging on to the doorframe. "Hey, can we talk?" I signaled for her to come sit down as I ran back into the bathroom to put my toothbrush on its stand. "What is it you want to talk about Sapphire?" She took a deep breath, "What is it about Koba that's bothering him so much, I mean Carter was only trying to help". I tried to explain what she asked without telling her what I really had to say, "I don't know, maybe he's upset he couldn't save you?" I said with seconds to spare. "But wouldn't he just be happy that I'm alright?" She asked again but with different wording. "Well maybe he wants to be the hero, he was probably just so flattered about what you said earlier about his magic, that he had to show you what he could do" I took a deep breath hoping that was an good excuse. "Maybe you're right Kazu, thanks for helping me with this" She wrapped her arms around my neck and leaned in to kiss me on the cheek; she got up and headed for the door. I followed after her, closing the door behind her. I walked back to my bed, and rolled onto the sheets, squirming my way underneath them to get warm. Gently I shut my eyes, but I couldn't sleep, I tossed and turned around the bed, trying to find a comfortable position. I knew why I couldn't sleep; I just tried to ignore it. Koba was going to have to do something about his crush with Koba before something happens with him and Carter. Even though Koba is a dragon slayer, Carter is excellent with his magic, I only had a little bit to see what he could do, but it was miraculous. Carter isn't a rookie with his magic in my opinion, he could be much more than what he is, and I only had a few minutes to witness his skill. I tried to absorb my problems, and then let them flow out, but they stayed with me instead. Nothing I could do was able to get my mind off Koba, or Carter. Where did he come from? Was he just waiting atop of the roofs? Or was he running away from something? I don't understand what he was doing up there that night, but I was bound to find out. I rolled over one last time until I finally started to doze off into a dream state. I could feel myself trying to fall asleep, but the other part of me was trying to rip me back to reality, it was like my mind was trying to tell me something, but why did it have to be so cryptic about it? I rested my eyes, and I finally dozed off into a deep sleep.

When I awoke, I had lye on a platform made of stone, there were cracks in it, and it was a sandish color, a circle sat in the middle of it, and stretched its way to the outside. I sat up and rested my arm across my knee, I looked over the platform to see nothing but the sky and I must've been high up to, there was an evened cool breeze that soared through the sky. I finally found the strength within me to stand up. I slowly and carefully walked to the ledge, I glanced over it with both feet planted firmly, and I slowly leaned outward to see what was below me. There was nothing but darkness below me, darkness and gray clouds. A liquid substance that was black would creep around itself, swirling in the center, and then imploding outward. When I looked back to what was above me, I saw a crystal blue sky with floating clouds that would move in between one another. Some would even collide with one another, and hold each other until split apart by the wind. The wind seemed so furious, and fearless, with such rage it tore through the clouds leaving big gaping holes in them as it moved on to the next cloud. More and more stone platforms started to appear in front of me, leading upwards and to the left of where I was standing. I put my right foot forward and tapped the structure in front of me, it didn't move, just floated there, without gravity to hold it down, it just sat there, right in front of me. I gently positioned my body weight towards the platform more and more, until finally I took one last step onto the platform. The platform behind me slowly started to vanish, and I spotted a figure at the very top of these stairs, He wore a sleeveless shirt that looked like it wrapped its way around him, it was a diamond kind of white, it was trimmed gold, with a golden eye in the center of it. A hood has rested its way a top of his head that was also white, and an eye patch was placed over his eye, the string wrapping it around his head was a rich gold color, it was bright, but also had some contrast to it like the eye on his shirt. The stairs started to disappear, crumbling beneath my feet. I rushed up the stairs, trying to beat out the debris that was being created. I looked up and saw the man cross his arms in disappointment, pacing back and forth, retracing his steps. I had to start leaping forward to beat out the magic of these steps. Just as I made my way towards the man, his scaffolding turned to dust, but he stood there, floating on nothing but a black liquidity substance that made its own platform. I fell forward, falling onto my stomach, but there was nothing there. So I just fell downward, plunging to my death, I looked back up, and I saw myself, but without my skin tone, just a black silhouette, with red eyes that pierced through his blinding black skin. His hair was black as well; I could swear to anyone, that there was nothing on his body that wasn't black besides his eyes. The man's hand rested on his shoulder, and he looked back to him, and then vanishing into nothing. He startled me even more than I already was. My eyes shut and I prepared for my dooming fall, whatever was below me was ready to absorb me, because I was able to hear hissing and low whispers. It felt like I had fallen, but I awoke once more on a stone platform, this time I was startled by the fall, I jumped upwards and quickly prepared for something drastic to happen. The man appeared behind me, putting his hand on my shoulder, I whipped my arm around trying to punch him in the mouth, and he lifted only his arm and countered it with his own forearm. Than grabbing my hand and tossing me backwards, I rolled back onto my feet, planting my feet behind me, and my hands in front of me, I looked up slowly. I noticed some sort of shadow move swiftly through the ground, then pouncing up to strike me in the chest. I was lifted upwards by the impact of this shadow and dropped back down to hit the floor shortly afterward. I stopped toying with myself, and stood tall and ready to counter anything this man had sent toward me. I readied my hands into an upward position and to face forward. Without much of a preparation I tried to blast my blue lightning forward as a beam of some sort, but when I tried, tiny explosions appeared in front of me, until all of them combined creating a massive combustion of smoke and fire. I was propelled backwards and the force of the explosion left its own feeling on my skin. The top half of my body leaned over the edge of the structure I was a top of. I could feel the black liquidity substance beneath me, slapping my back over and over until I finally regained some sort of consciousness. I rolled forward with anger, and stood up again. I looked down at my hands and questioned why I couldn't use my magic like I usually could. I bent my arms upward and let the magic flow through my veins. My magic circle appeared underneath me and bolt of lightning shot upward. I quickly grasped the bolt, but little did I know, it started to break down into nothing, and then another explosion appeared in front of me, blowing up once more. I was propelled backwards again, but this time falling off of the platform. I soared through the air and glided my way down to another platform. I was about fifty feet or so below the man, he suddenly was covered with his own shadow, and then disappearing once more. I felt a hand lye on my shoulder and I lost all feeling in my body, I dropped down onto my knees and was kicked forward onto my stomach. I wanted to just give up at that point, but when I tried to loosen my strength and pass out, my body kept on fighting. I tried my absolute hardest to stand on my own two feet but I wasn't able to gather enough of my own energy, so I just lied there, on the floor, hoping that this man would walk away. Little did I know that this man wasn't going to let me live today, and wherever I was I felt surprisingly weaker, like there was something holding me back, but keeping my body alive at the very same moment. I was dragged to the side of the platform, and flipped over to face whoever was doing this to me. He kept his knee pressed against my stomach, and his foot that was bent on a hinge on my wrist. Slowly this man turned his head, and slowly he squinted his other eye. The sun glared back at me, as I to it. I started to breathe heavier due to the loss of breathing; I must've collapsed a lung at this point because breathing was something that seemed like it wasn't going to happen much longer from where I was. A few punches were thrown into the line of my jaw, snapping it out of place. I could feel the blood building up into my mouth because I started gargling more of my own blood. I could feel the blood slowly trickle down my chin and then into my neck, creating a puddle of blood next to my head. The blood felt cold next to my head, it tried to drip down the side of my face was to swollen to allow it through. This man kept on delivering punch after punch to me, until his knuckles were just as bloody as the floor, and then he stood up, and turned away from me. He crossed his arms and looked forward, almost forgetting that he just beat a teenager half to death with his own fists. He looked deep into his hands; one of them covered in blood, the other only had specs of blood on the back of his palm. I leaned my body forward, trying to get a better view of whatever it was he was doing. I heard him mumble a few words to himself, and then turn around once more. Pouncing back on top of me, his knee was pressed against my chest this time, he looked deep into my eyes, even though he only had one, it gave off the illusion that another was there even though it wasn't. He threw a few more punches at my eye, and then getting off of my chest, he pulled me up onto my feet, but skipping the part where I would be standing, he just tossed me across the platform like I weighed nothing, or little to it. I constantly rolled over and over; my elbows were torn up, almost as much as my knees were. Blood tampered with the coloring of the stone platform, leaving its own pattern splattered throughout the ground. I tried to get on my hands and knees, but fell once more onto my stomach. I felt a ripple through the ground beneath us, and started to shake violently as well as the man in front of me. He stumbled forward and tumbled over himself, he looked aggravated on the ground, like he felt weak, although if there was anything this man was it was determined. The looks in his eyes were sickening, his face was filled with hatred and his body screamed pure destruction. When the man finally got up, he let his arms dangle as the rest of his body was picking itself up. He charged after me with some strange creepy stare that was piercing my soul. He had gotten too close to my body, or I had gotten too close to him for his sake, he lifted me up with his muscular arms, and tossed me over the side of the platform we were on. Watching me fall to my own demise as I worried for nothing but Koba, and Sapphire and my own family. What was going to happen to me? Where was I to go? All of these questions rushed through my mind without giving me time to answer them, so I didn't, I shut my eyes, and let my body do all of the work. It's not like there was much left to do besides grasp my own arms for comfort and safety. I turned my head slightly over my shoulder and looked at the black liquidity substance underneath me; it made a pillar for my arrival. Something to absorb me and all of my energy, everything that was inside of me, and I think what was worst of all was, I didn't even know what happened. The liquidity substance which felt like a glue that wouldn't let go of me, slowly pulled me six feet below it. I closed my eyes once more, and got ready for what was next, but I felt something, what felt like an actually hand that didn't want to harm me, someone that I knew, I opened my eyes, and it was my own mother. Grabbing my hand with father by her side, "Mom!" I shouted as loud as I could, "Dad!" I shouted once more. "Help me, what are you doing! Pull me out, please Mom!" She let go of my hand and put her hand on my father's chest. "Help him now!" I heard a voice cry out. A violent shake took place after it; I opened my eyes to find myself sitting in my bedroom, staring at Koba who was sitting at the edge of my bed. I jumped backwards hitting my head on the headboard behind me. Turning my head Right I saw Sapphire kneeling at the side of my bed frame with a smile on her face. "Kazu! You're alright!" Sapphire shouted as loud as she possibly could. My face was more than likely looking puzzled but I couldn't tell do the pain on the back of my head. "Why are you so surprised that I had woken up?" I asked Sapphire. "You've been screaming and rolling around for hours Kazu, we tried everything we could to wake you up, but you just stayed in your dreams." Sapphire said. Koba rolled off the edge of the bed and glanced at me, the sun from the windows behind me touched his skin gently. I didn't know if I should tell them about my dream, if that could've even been considered a dream. "I wasn't having a bad dream or anything, that's strange that would happen" I blurted out with a questionable tone. "Well, whatever it was man, it scared me, don't do stuff like that" Koba said emotionlessly, but with a kick of humor. Sapphire agreed with him, and the two of them proceeded to go out of my door, following one another. I had rested my head on pillow and had laid my body out flat against the bed. What did that dream mean? I couldn't think of anything to describe my feelings about that what I would call a nightmare. I mumbled words to myself, and thought things, but none of them actually matched my unknown description. One word did maneuver its way into my mind, it was Shadowfall, I didn't know what that meant, but I sure wanted to know more about it.

ShadowFall

I tampered with the sheets in my bed, kicking them around and moving the position from on the bed, to only on one side. I wallowed inside of my room, with actual comfort, because of the thought of my mother and father shook me so much, it took me a while to get ready to actually go about my day. I missed all the times that we had sitting at that old table made from a fine oak and a very distinct pattern carved into the side of one of the legs. Mom never really knew how to cook, she never had a clue about what she was doing in that kitchen, but rather it was our father that supported us with food, when he could. We were never actually poor, but never particularly rich. All the times that my father would have to pay for me and Koba's trouble caused was a bit to frequent, but now that I look back on it, all of those times were better than the ones we have now. There isn't a day that goes by that doesn't make me fear the next mission that I have to do, and it seems like there isn't much to say for it, but there is, I never wanted to actually go around collecting money from bounties. I can only share gratefulness for having Koba with me every step of the way, because with him it's like nothing could stand in our way, in fact a couple years back, we had gotten into a brawl at the town fair. The night was gloomy, and the fluorescent lights of the moon struck down to every carnival ride and every tent that was just another carny scam. Koba and I were waiting on the line for popcorn, because that was his favorite meal indeed, and nothing made him happier than to eat food, and I mean nothing. A small group of guys formed on the line behind us, and one of them had the audacity to move in front of Koba and I. Koba was an impatient kid, and he still is, but back then he was a force to be reckoned with, and even till this very day. Nothing startled me more when Koba spoke to the boy in front of us "Excuse me, I really don't think you can just cut us like that, we've been wai…" without a sense of hesitation the boy turned around and coughed up the nastiest amount of spit he could withdraw, and sent it downward to clash with Koba's shoe. Koba didn't take to well to something like that, so he did what he knew best, he hit him. I could swear that I have never seen someone hit the floor so hard until that very moment. The kid sat up onto his knee and wiped the blood from his mouth, then spitting that on the sandy dirt that was leveled to him. His white jacket was covered in specs of sand, and a hole was already formed on the front of it. The boy's friends started to push the two of us around, Koba put his back to mine, and I put all my trust into his. I never minded fighting with Koba in any situation really, not even something as little as this, because I didn't look at the negatives, only the positives. None of the boys that surrounded us knew how to fight, they just looked like more of thugs, or a wannabe thug for that matter. When I looked over my shoulder I noticed Koba had already left my back and was on top of a kid, punching him in the eye, immediately after the kid went unconscious and Koba jumped back up onto his feet, there was one kid behind him, and the other in front. I then received a punch to my jaw that shook my head violently, and I almost fell over. When I came back to my senses there was two boys in front of me, both of them slouched over themselves with a grappler's stance. I charged at the boy on the left and raised my knee to connect with his chin, then grasping his arm, I stood adjacent to him and swept my leg to his, and he flipped over me and landed directly on his back. I kicked him once more in the head, to make sure his presence would be absent for the rest of the fight. I was then grabbed by the boy from behind, his arms were across my stomach, and he flipped me backwards. I went airborne for a short period of time, and for the brief moment I was in the air, I did not want to come back down. When I finally crashed against the rocky ground, I lied still for a few moments. I quickly jumped back up onto two feet and threw a right cross that even I felt. He stumbled backwards a little bit and then I charged at him like I did with the previous boy. I grabbed both of his legs and took him up into the air, then painfully slamming him back down from above my head. He didn't move. Koba had just finished up with his opponents, but there was a mark brewing next to his eye, it looked painful, and it was beginning to turn purple. That was all I could remember that night, nothing more comes to mind when I think of it, but I'm sure we had fun anyway. I dressed myself accordingly to my usually attire, and messed up my hair with a quick shake of my hands. When I finally came downstairs Koba was sitting down at the island, and Sapphire was cooking something on the stove. When I pulled up a stool I noticed how disgusted Koba looked, and then I looked at what he was looking at. The plate of eggs that were in front him looked like nothing more than applesauce, with an orangish yellow color to it. "I made the two of you some breakfast because of how generous you two were to let me stay here" Sapphire explained. "Yeah it was no problem Sapphire, you seem nice enough" I said along with Koba. She picked up a plate with one hand and rolled some eggs onto it, then turning around and putting it back on down to the table, then sliding it across so it lye in front of me. I painfully and regretfully ate the food that was in front of me because Sapphire was watching me eat my food. The mornings were usually quiet in our home. Koba was always a fan of literature, no matter what the kind, so in the mornings he read the daily news. When it was time to leave the house Sapphire made sure to remind me it was cold out, almost as cold as it was the night before, so I grabbed my coat. I opened up the door between to cross the threshold between my house and the street. It was a quiet morning outside as well. Nobody really walked around; there were very few people that were interacting with one another. I for one was trying to start a conversation between Koba and Sapphire to maybe help them get over what happened the night prior. "So how do you feel after what happened last night Sapphire?" I asked. "Well I'm still a bit shaken up, but Carter really did help save me, so I'm trying to keep my cool when I have to see him today" she exclaimed with a half open smile. My plan to help them get over it was not working, so I gave up until we reached the guild hall. It was about noon when I finally stepped back onto the wood tiling of The Winged Fox. It was not very long until the guild master shouted my name from his balcony. "Kazu!" I heard him call out. A chill went up and down my spine like a train on tracks. Koba nodded at me and I progressed up the stairs to Masuf's office. I knocked on the door, but it opened gently rather than waiting for his acceptance to enter. "Kazu, what do you think you're doing starting fights in the guild hall?" he asked. Then he continued "It is very unlike you to start fights for your own personal gain." I tried to stop him, but he just kept on rambling about my actions yesterday. "As punishment for your actions, I am adding a new member to your team, to guide your actions a bit more efficiently, he's a bit new, but I have faith in him that he'll pick up quick, his name is Carter." My heart dropped into my stomach and I felt a light numbing on my foot. "Did you say Carter?" I asked, and he nodded. "I don't think that's such a good idea Masuf, you see we encountered Carter last night during a sort of rumble in an alleyway, Sapphire was being attacked and Carter swept down from the skies unexpectedly. He and Koba aren't exactly on good terms either". "I do not care Kazu; I need someone to moderate your behavior. Now if you'd excuse yourself from my office that would be delightful" I excused myself from his desk and stepped back outside, I felt my heart go back up for a brief moment. I slowly took step after step until I finally got to the bar where Koba and Sapphire found themselves sitting. Hoinouko was standing with a rag in one hand, and a plate in the other, she cleaned the plate in almost record timing and set it back down on the bar. "What happened up there Kazu?" I took a moment for a breath, what I thought would be my last before I told him. "Well Masuf thinks it would be best if we had someone watch over us for a little while" I said with relief. "Well that's not as bad as I thought it would, who'd we get assigned?" I once more thought that this would be my last breath, "Well uhm, we have Carter in our team now…" I said with a high pitched tone. Koba's jaw dropped down to his feet, but Sapphire's face grew red with every blink that she made. I took a step back so Koba could breathe a bit more, I saw the look on his face, and it wasn't anything but utter shock. Carter slid down the railway on the stairs, rolling off onto his feet. He stood tall, and he looked more built then he did last night. This time wearing a tight white shirt and black pants, the bandanna was still wrapped around the top of his head. "Hey Carter" Sapphire exclaimed, I said the same. Carter said hello to the both of us and told us to meet him by the front of the guild hall. He glanced at Koba on the way out and Koba threw a glance back. Carter walked with defiance and honesty. Koba could do nothing but feel threatened, and that's just what he did. We sat around the guild for a while, I questioned if I should have food or not, but my stomach was still upset from Sapphire's eggs, so I decided to skip lunch. It wasn't much longer until I went outside with Koba and Sapphire to meet Carter. Carter sat on top of a picnic table, and he looked over the front gate into town. He heard us coming and approached us a bit sooner than expected. "Good morning everyone, I just heard that I'm going to be joining your team, isn't that great!" I threw a smile on my face and then agreed with what he had to say, as well as Koba, but his version was a bit more sarcastic. Carter had suggested that we all go for a walk around the neighborhood just to get to know each other a bit more. We strolled out onto the road, and then continued walking on the street. We headed towards the center of town, there was some sort of scheduled event there today, and it was just listed as a "Special event" at two o' clock. We weren't that far away from the town square, a few block s at most. Most of the walk there was a thriving conversation between Koba and Carter, a competitive life story more than not. The amount of work that the two of them put into trying to outdo each other was nauseating, and I don't think Sapphire was too fond of their childish actions. I spotted a few men up on top of the gallows, all of them were dressed a jet black. They stood there while one of their accomplices dragged what looked like the mayor up onto stage. The Mayor trembled with fear, something bad was about to happen, but I was the only one who was able to spot it because of Koba and Carter's bickering. I slapped Koba on the arm and shouted "Come on!" I picked up my pace and ran as fast as I could toward the center of town. Koba picked up speed increasingly fast, as if it was his wind that was being used without actually activating his magic. The town circle was flooded with people; everyone was there, children, adults, teenagers, and the elder. The man from my dreams, there he was, standing right on top of the stage for everyone to see. I stopped running for a moment which caused a chain reaction of the rest of the team to stop. I shook myself back to reality and picked up the pace again. How was he here? He was only a dream figure, wasn't he? There was no explanation for his presence out of my mind. He raised his arm and a sliver of a shadow crawled up his arm, then a black magic circle appeared above his hand, it was nothing but darkness, there was no triangles, nothing, just a black circle hollowed out. The shadow that started at his shoulder was now propelled through the circle, taking the same hollowed out shape as the circle. It made its way up into the clouds, and then spreading outward it created a ring. Everyone stopped their talking and town went utterly silent. Everyone's attention went to the man, as he lowered his arm he started to speak. "People, this is your mayor is it not" Most of those nodded who weren't controlled by the fear that he possessed. "And he holds all the power to this town does he not?" His voice echoed through the empty blocks of town. Everyone nodded once more. He lifted up his arm once more and had his followers hold the mayor on his knees. His arm was aimed directly at the mayor's forehead, he let loose some sort of beam that burrowed its way through the mayor's head, and it went from one side to the other, a clean shot through. Some of the woman screeched at the top of their lungs, it wasn't enough to overpower the booming sound of the magic the man released. "My name is Eravit, and I am your new leader." My face grew with absolute horror and my eyes widened. I looked to Sapphire on my left, and watched her shake in awe, I looked to Carter, and he was prepared to bow these men down. Everyone in town stood around, just waiting for Eravit to say something, but he did not, nor his henchmen. Carter lowered his hands into a position where he could quickly draw out his bow, but Koba put his hand over Carter's arm, stopping him from doing so. "People of this lovely town, if any of you dare to go against my name, do so now, where you can fight for your rights." Eravit spoke for himself and his henchman, but nobody in the crowd opened their mouths, not even me.

I was afraid of Eravit, I've fought him once inside of my own mind, and I lost horribly, I would not want to fight him again, not without reason. "Is there one in the crowd who goes by the name "Kazu" Eravit said. My heart sank, my legs felt loose, and my feet went numb. I looked down, trying to protect myself from him. "Ah, so nobody wants to give up Kazu, well there's little I can do for any of you then" He exclaimed. "For every day that I do not get this boy that you all call "Kazu" I shall take another person's life". I swallowed my pride and proceeded forward preparing myself for the fight I knew I couldn't win. Before I could make it very far Koba had pulled on my arm and asked me what I thought I was doing. I didn't answer him and continued to be stubborn and selfless. He pulled harder and it stopped me once more. "Look Koba I won't let these men get away with what they're doing, it isn't right". "Then come back to the guild and get a formidable team and fight him" Koba had exclaimed making a noticeable scene. The crowd had separated making a direct path to us from the scaffold. "Ah, you decided to come out and play Kazu, interesting, I didn't know you were so foolish" Eravit mocked me with the way he moved and spoke, I couldn't take it. "Who are you calling foolish you assh-" Koba hit me in the stomach knocking the wind out of me. Koba spoke for me, "Whatever you want with my friend here, I won't allow you to take him, there are plenty of others who feel the same as I do, and they will come looking for you if you continue to do as you are now". Koba stood tall among a sea of townspeople, he was a Hero among regulars. "I'd like to see them try" Eravit jumped from the scaffolding to the ground, sending the townspeople scurrying. He lifted his index finger and his pinky finger, a blast of darkness shot from the ground and followed the path directly towards Koba. The darkness had been stopped by Carter's arrow creating a separating explosion between us and him. I regained my breath and stood my ground; I raised a bolt of lightning and grasped it as a sword. Clutching the bolt I ran past Koba and Carter as fast as I could and charged Eravit. Eravit smirked with a merciful way and lifted his arm once more, and with such precision and such lack of effort, I was struck with his energy, but this time I was launched into a nearby wall, going through it I laid there for a moment or two. Getting up I cracked my neck and walked forward slowly but most definitely enraged. I watched Koba and Carter fighting off Eravit's soldiers, they were using up so much magic energy just fighting his soldiers. Eravit dashed towards me and swung his fist and my head. I stepped backwards freeing myself from a finishing blow. I swung my foot upwards and used my lightning to spread out a wave of energy that would hopefully catch Eravit, however it didn't even come close to him, he used his magic energy to block it my counter. He leaped towards me with his fist extended towards me, but his magic had reached me before he did. I was knocked down once more, but I promised myself I wouldn't let him get me again. Koba looked over his shoulder and soared towards Eravit wrapping his arms around him, Koba tackled him into a wall, then swinging his fists behind his wind blasts he struck Eravit. Once I had returned to my feet I ran to help Koba and we struck Eravit together. I wound up my arms and unleashed electric discs to propel at Eravit, while Koba used his wind to send them into mach speed and hit Eravit. For the first time throughout that fight, Eravit looked like he was generally affected by our effort to stop him. Once Koba and I thought we finally had an advantage on Eravit, he stepped out of the rubble he was in, and tossed his shirt off of him. He created a black silhouette of himself, and stood next to it. Koba was lined up with the silhouette as I was to Eravit. Koba soared at the silhouette and tackled it like he did to Eravit before. I was too busy watching Koba work his magic like a god to see Eravit's next attack. Eravit had shot me with his energy that he released from his palm and I absorbed every ounce of it and fell to my knees, and then eating a knee to my jaw from Eravit sent me upwards and flipping back simultaneously I collided with the ground. Carter must've been down and out because there was no sign of him or Sapphire anywhere around us. Eravit landed on top of me and sent his fist at my head, but I moved to the left and it missed. I kicked my legs up and knocked him off of me but briefly after he was on me again, pummeling my face into the ground with his fists that moved like bullets shot from a gun. I felt defeated because I quickly lost consciousness.

When I had awoken I was lying in the infirmary of the guild hall. Sapphire was sitting at the foot of my bed, and Carter was opposite her. I regained my ability to speak and let out a short, but loud groan. Sapphire quickly turned at me and our eyes locked, she rushed me with her care and Carter quickly raced over as well. "Oh Kazu thank god you're okay, we thought we lost you for a little while!" Carter seemed more relieved than Sapphire, guilty almost. "It's good to see your awake Kaze" said Carter quietly. I sat up into a position of consciousness and looked around me once more, there was no sight of Koba anywhere. "Where's Koba!" I exclaimed. "Kazu. You have a lot of rest to catch up on." Carter said. "Where is he! He has to be alright!" Sapphire looked downwards and didn't seem to care much for my statement, but insisted once more on my rest. "I won't rest until I know where Koba is!" I yelled his name again and again until Carter finally pulled over a stool from the table that was intended for visitors and he sat on it backwards. "You were being beaten up pretty bad out there you know Kazu, it was like you didn't even stand a chance". I shrugged off his comments in regards for my own self dignity. "Heh, well Koba seemed to have finished his opponent pretty quickly, if you could even call it that". "It wasn't looking too good for you out there, so Koba jumped at the man you were, uh trying to fight" he continued. "And before he could get a swing in, he was grappled by different shadow magic coming from the ground, it was like he was trapped there" I grew more worried than I was before and I didn't think that I had a real chance to say anything because Carter just continued. "I took matters into my own hands at that moment and used one of my special spells from my arsenal". "I used a teleportation magic on the both of you, once shot the arrow exploded and everyone that was in its general radius was taken to a point of my control. I put you here, in the infirmary and I put Eravit as far as possible away from the guild". "What about Koba!". "Well you see" he continued once more "I couldn't control Koba's point of destination do to my lack of magic energy, we are currently unaware of his wearabouts". Once Sapphire was able to calm me down between and my own injuries restrained myself from lunging at Carter with everything I had, I was able to understand what he was telling me. The entire guild was out looking for Carter, hoping that he would be okay I decided to overlook his unfortunate time of need. I got out of the infirmary as quickly as possible and moved on to the guild hall, only to find a room filled with emptiness and void. For the first time in my life, I couldn't find anyone in the entire guild besides Carter and I, as well as Sapphire. I was aching badly but strengthened through it. I thought back to the fight I had with Eravit, but didn't want to risk anymore distractions to get to Koba. I asked Carter if there was anywhere possible he could actually be, but he couldn't form any coherent idea as to where Koba was. Sapphire and I headed home to get my clothes that I was accustomed to wearing and Carter decided to tag along with us. After a moments walk we reached our homestead and I immediately was excited to get into something besides the hospital gown that I was wearing. I fitted myself with my classic attire to get back into the swing of things. My magic energy started to pulse through me again and I felt stronger than ever. At the state I was in right now, was absolutely no shape to get into any brawls with anyone or anything. Carter seemed genuinely worried about Koba, although I suspected his intention to harm Koba was pretty strong, I do not think he thought of this being the way to do it.

It had been almost two days since the incident with Eravit, and yet there was no sign of Koba to be found. Every member in the guild was out looking for him, and the guild was determined to find him. Even one of our strongest wizards in the guild came back to look for Koba once the news had reached her. Her name was Mary, and she was one of the most powerful wizards to ever walk the earth. Mary happens to be the guildmaster's daughter which explains her capabilities. Mary uses a lost transformation magic that lets her transform into one of the six archangels. A skill that no other wizard known to man can posses as well as one of the most difficult to overlook and see that Mary is one of the most kindhearted people that have ever lived. Constantly putting others before herself, she's selfless which matches her talent to transform into an angel. My day was starting off to such a twisted and anarchy filled way that I already had lost some hope in it. When I had woken up from my slumber from the night before, which wasn't long considering most of my time had been filled searching for Koba, I instantly forgot he was still missing and I charged into his room only to find it filled with nobody in it. Followed by that catastrophe I had to choke down more of Sapphire's breakfast, and on the living room couch was Koba's sworn enemy Carter. I forgot about Carter staying with us for the past few days too. I wasn't fond of Sapphire and Carter's love interest and I wasn't going to romanticize the idea of them two being together when it was clear to myself that Koba was very much interested in Sapphire. For the most part of my life, love had not seem as it is to many others. I had always viewed love as a way of caring about others, rather than a romantic connection and a sexual grasp on the two involved. Sapphire was already so dear to my heart, yet we had barely known eachother a week, she was even living with me. That shows how accepting of others as the two of us were. My wounds had started to heal better and I felt more alive by today, and that was really the only positive aspect of this day. I know it seemed naïve but I was eager to get my hands on Eravit. He made a promise that one person would die everyday he didn't get me, however that promised hadn't been fulfilled, and if there is one thing in this world that should be truly honored it was in fact a promise. A promise was something I swore to never break, I had always thought higher of them, it was a bond of mere verbal agreement, but they were dearest to me and my family. Immediately that day once I collected myself and uncollected Sapphire's cooking, the three of us had proceeded outside into the streets. The day was gloomy and cloud filled, with a light mist that kept the skin cool, but the nerves awake because nobody wanted to be caught in the rain. The guild members flooded the streets with their participation in trying to find Koba. Everywhere you looked there was another guild member, and in the skies there was Mary, soaring through with her golden beauty and her reminisce excellence. Mary's hair was black in color and easy enough to spot from down below, but most of her other features remained unseen to most of those on the ground. Before I had even gotten off the front steps of my building I had noticed that Sapphire and Carter were holding hands, however I didn't let it bother me because I didn't think much of it. I had always thought of myself as being one of the most perceptive people alive, I had always been able to read people very easily and I had always been able to predict things before they could happen and generally get them right. There had been a rumor floating around the guild that Koba was widely aware of his condition, and feared being a target of Eravit's wrath, so he wanted to stay hidden for some time, but I would not believe that rumor, because if there is anyone that I know better than myself it was Koba, and I knew he wasn't scared of anything, death included. That's right, Koba was not even afraid of death, he knew it was a certainty in everyone's life, and he knew it was a predetermined date for each person alive. It sounds dark, but that's only because it is. I had once again met the streets with my boots and once again the day almost felt hopeless, but there was a cry from way down the street. It wasn't Koba, but his name was shouted. My face lit up and my head turned into that direction immediately, before I knew what I was doing, my body already started moving towards the shriek, Sapphire and Carter behind me already as well. I was there in no time, only to find deception and uncertainty; it was another member of the guild. His name was well, unknown to all but very view, but the guild called him Extinction. He is arguably the strongest wizard that our guild has, he was no stranger to being young either, he was almost twenty. His intentions are never well and he doesn't care about anything other than himself. His magic is called Arc of Darkness caster magic. His magic cannot be explained. Extinction is a member of the guild, of a select few, that have been threatened to be removed from the guild because of his dark actions. When he saw me, I noticed his appearance quite shockingly because it had been years since I had seen him. His hair was as white as the clouds on a perfect sunny day, with black streaks running through them, He had a collared black sleeveless vest that went up to his chin. He wore white pants that cut at his knees, and black boots with white streaks in them. His arms were crossed and I stopped in front of him, almost directly. "Just what do you think you're doing now Kazu, running around with these losers that you call a team. You have such power and ambition, clearly you should understand that if you were with me, we could do unspeakable things together." Extinction noted. I was in no mood for his devilish antics nor was I going to condone his behavior, but I was weary to make him mad, there was a tale that when he was younger, he lost control of his power and he had killed his entire family. "Extinction, I thought you were out doing a century quest, had you given up so soon?" Extinction laughed heavily very quickly explained "The job was too easy for me, so I did what had to be done and moved on back to the guild only to hear that you and your friend Koba were stirring up quite some trouble back at the guild." He wasn't wrong, everything that had happened with Eravit was my own fault, I should've controlled Koba, but I couldn't. He continued to mock me "So now Masuf threatened me _again_ telling me that if I didn't hurry on out and start looking for this moron who got lo-""He's no moron you jerk! He couldn't help what happened to him!" Sapphire exclaimed. I quickly stopped her from talking and handed her back over to Carter who I thought was going to be a problem any moment now. "Oooh she's feisty isn't she Kazu?" He went on to laugh and laugh, then proceeding to walk away. Once gone I felt the energy in the air lighten and start to feel less burdensome. Having a magic energy so powerful it can manipulate the air that you breathe in is a scary one. We had continued to look for Koba for most of the day, and the ban from going to the guild hall was lifted, so we headed there to meetup with the rest of the guild members. Once we had arrived, the guild wasn't as lively as it usually was, mostly because everyone who is usually at the guild is so happy, but this wasn't a time to be happy. The day finished quickly and there was not much to remember about it. We had gone home early that night to get rest for the next day of searching for Koba. On our way home, Carter had convinced Sapphire and I to go through the neighboring park near our house. I knew what Carter was up to, however I was too tied up with my current affairs that involved Koba to try and break away from his charm and persuasion, so I went along with his scheme. The black spiked fence that lapped the park's perimeter was menacing, it was imposed to scare off intruders. Dusk started to take over the sky and corrupt it with its sickeningly beautiful orange and corruption of night time combined to create such an illuminating light that tricked the eye into a masked beauty. The park was filled with teenagers, like myself, that were with their friends and who could not do anything to harm us. The park was a nice change of events for Sapphire and I, as well as Carter. It was the break that we needed, something to relax our state of minds, something to calm our awakening pressure. Although Koba was nowhere to be seen, I could tell that Carter's mind craved the everlasting time away from Koba, so he could have Sapphire to himself. Carter and Sapphire had snuck off somewhere together, and I couldn't convince myself to keep pace with them two, so rather then run around all night trying to discover their whereabouts I simply made the choice to go home and wait for the morning to come. I arrived at the house at around eleven o' clock and I crept into my bed after a day of exhaustion. On most nights I would wait up to make sure whomever I was with would make it home alright, but Sapphire was with Carter and I knew she would be alright with him. Carter was a wizard with a magic that I didn't fully understand yet, but he was powerful enough to outlast a night with Sapphire. Falling asleep wouldn't be a difficult task because of my increasing exhaustion, just every moment that I stayed up was tiring me out more and more. So I let go, and let rest takeover.

The next morning was quiet just as the rest of my mornings usually were. I had gotten dressed quickly in hope for a better day than the one prior, maybe there was a sighting of Koba and he was at the guild, but I didn't know. Once I had gotten myself together I went downstairs in search of Sapphire and Carter, yet there was no sight of them anywhere. Sapphire would usually force me to eat her "food" and Carter should be asleep on the couch. I wasn't worried that something bad had happened to them, because for all I knew they were just wandering around the town in search of Koba. All I knew was that I was glad I didn't have to eat Sapphire's food. The day seemed hopeful, there was just a different feel to my morning routine, I decided to go to the guild in search of Sapphire and Carter. The weather was rather cold today, there was a cool and wet breeze that would overcome your body leaving you with chills every few minutes or so. I stopped on my way to the guild to grab myself coffee because the guild's machine was temporarily out of service. It wasn't long until I got to the guild, and I expected Koba to be there, however he wasn't. The guild was still rather silent, but there was a mix of conversations going on, none of them about Koba. I was starting to seriously worry that I was the only one still looking for him. I sat at a table and thought about what I was going to do, I needed to find Sapphire and Carter and I wasn't in the mood to baby them around either. I decided that I would let Sapphire and Carter find me, because I was not going looking for them. I had more important things on my mind. My temper was growing short with Carter, for his lack of care with Koba, and his minimal concern with anyone but himself. I had always thought of myself as a patient guy, but when things are about your friends. . . No, when things are about your family I grow impatient and ill-tempered very quickly. I ordered food from Hoinouko and she told me it was on the house from last time. I nodded with great relief because I had little no more money left. It was a short wait before my pancakes were in front of me, nor were they very good, but I was hungry, it'd been awhile since I ate a solid meal. While looking down and devouring my pancakes I noticed a figure in front of me that just sat down. It was Markiz. He looked worried, as if he'd seen something. "Spit it out Markiz, I'm in no mood for your shit" I said with anger. Markiz looked afraid, but answered me back "Listen here you little runt, I will fight you again, this time you won't be happy when I use my –" I interrupted him because I was already tired of hearing him blabber about his spineless threats. "Why don't you reconsider who you're talking to, I can and most certainly will crush you like a bug if you ever so much as attempt to come near me with your magic drawn, do you understand that I can beat some of the most powerful members of the guild and you're no more than a washed up has-been that was once possibly able to qualify as an S-Class wizard, but now is nothing less than scum." I said with an uncontrolled rage that took over me. Markiz looked startled that I just said something like that. Believe it or not, there is a darker side of me, a place where I lose control of my magic energy and am a risk to all around me, including myself. I've been in a situation once before where I lost control of my magic, and set of a series of combustion effects to blow up the entire guild hall. When my emotions get in the way of my thoughts, I don't think right, and a much more violent aggressor comes out of my personality, people even say that I look different when it happens, almost like a demon takes over me. Markiz got up and walked away, and headed out towards the doors, he was on his way for a mission. On his way out, I noticed Sapphire and Carter flew in through the doors and raced over to me. Both of them yelled my name, but I cared little for either of them right now. They immediately sat at my table and told me their news was urgent. "Kazu! Kazu!" Carter said out of breath. "It's Koba; people are saying that he's been spo-"Carter's voice was interrupted from the severe wind that knocked down both of the guild doors. I knew right there that whatever followed wasn't going to be good, because it was Koba. Everyone's heads turned viciously towards the entrance, all getting up and ready to fight. In flew Koba slowly entering the building and levitating above the ground. "Carter!" he yelled. "Sapphire get back" I exclaimed. Koba was dangerous right now, incredibly dangerous. "You bastard!" Koba let another wind loose against the tables sending them all into the wall and shattering into pieces of rubble and debris. Carter stepped forward and said "Koba, I know what you're thinking but it isn't wha-" That was as far as Carter was going to get before Koba blasted him through the back wall of the guild and into the street. Koba was still above the ground, and looked menacing, angry, and unconcerned with anything but bitter revenge. Our eyes met, and neither of us let an emotion pierce through our skin, we watched each other. "Koba you need to stop this" I said. "Don't make me come after you too Kazu!" Koba continued on through the guild still levitating. A circle of wind appeared around Koba, and that wind was moving everything around him, the tables, the chairs, the drinks. The guild looked like a battlefield right now, a holy battlefield created by gods. Koba was still wreaking havoc on the guild hall when he told Carter to come back and fight him like a man. Koba looked around the guild with his arms equally raised, acting as if he owned us, like we were his peasants, but at that moment, we were. An arrow shot through the giant hole in the wall created by Carter's body, midair and near Koba, the arrow exploded. However the explosion was actually interrupted by Koba's wind, immediately clearing out all smoke and all fire. Carter's magic was useless against Koba. Even my magic seemed hopeless against Koba in his time of rage. Carter stepped forward and into the guild from the rupture in the guild hall's structure. "Is this how you wanted it to go down?" Carter exclaimed trying to speak over Koba's monstrous winds. Koba without answering made an X with his two index fingers, and a piercing wind that cleared through the floor tearing up the boards and launching them into air. Carter rolled out of the wind's way, and set an arrow out on his way back up, except this time the arrow split into maybe over one hundred arrows. All of the arrows were sent outwards by Koba's wind. Everything Carter was doing was completely ineffective, I would suggest running, but there was nowhere to run. I noticed a struggle in Koba's movements temporarily; he looked as if he had a headache. I looked over at Sapphire and noticed she was struggling to move too. Sapphire used her magic to lock both her and Koba in place so they couldn't move. "Sapphire let go of me right this instant!" Koba yelled with an echoing boom followed by it. While Koba was distracted he ate an explosive arrow to the stomach from Carter. Carter was undoubtedly making use of his advantages, and I would've too. Koba was launched from the roof of the building into the sky and I had lost sight of him temporarily. I had to put a stop to this, it was getting out of hand and the destruction factor was getting to be too high. Carter fell to his knees, but it was too soon to lose so much magic energy. Carter didn't stand a chance against Koba, so I stepped in. Koba came in walking through the front door, his shirt blown off, and a menacing looking bruise on his chest. I stepped in front of Carter and told him to back away. "Koba you need to stop this at once, you're doing nobody any good, just talk it out." I exclaimed hoping that he'd toned down his anger. "Kazu, do you know what he did to me? That bastard put me halfway across the world just so I couldn't be near Sapphire!" I looked over at Carter in disappointment, but back to Koba once more. "Koba, buddy you have to calm down, you're being irrational" I said calmly. "Is it irrational that my best friend is taking a stranger's side over mine? Because I think otherwise!" Koba was growing more irrational by the second, and he was growing more enraged as well. He needed to be calmed down, so I urged Sapphire to help me, because maybe she could use her magic to calm him down? Sapphire planted her feet firmly and aimed both of her hands at Koba, her purple magic circle appeared and it spun rapidly. "Just what do you think you're doing Sapphire!" Koba yelled. I threw a bolt of lightning at Koba, and it hit him directly in the shoulder. He spun backwards into the wall and quickly launched himself up with his wind magic. Koba's logic and reasoning was now turned off, it was a detachable part of his mind once he reached a certain point. Koba swiped both of his arms down and his circle appeared. Blades of air whipped towards me, but I had already saw a path going through them that led directly to one of Koba's weak spots. I maneuvered my way through the blades of air, however some of them spun horizontally and they slashed open my arms, and a gash across my cheek. I sped up and connected with Koba's jaw with a wicked kick that was chased by lightning. Koba was sent back once more except this time he didn't fall, and before I could finish the motion of my kick, he dashed back towards me with his wind and he had caught me with an uppercut of wind that sent me flipping backwards into the air. I rebalanced myself mid air and performed a move that I had only once before, blue lightning body. My body was engulfed in blue lightning, practically turning myself into a lightning bolt, I was able to greatly increase my speed and greatly increase the output of damage on whom I targeted. I immediately flew towards Koba at speeds faster than his winds with my foot outward trying to catch him in his gut. Koba encased himself in wind and flew towards me as well. When the two of us collided there was a painfully bright flash that separated those on each side of the room. From those on Koba's side it looked like he won, and from those on my side, it appeared like I won. Both Koba and I were drilled downwards towards the floor, burrowing our bodies into the ground and severely splintering our backs, with open cuts and severe blood loss becoming a major factor. This fight turned into more than trying to stop Koba once I used my lightning body magic. I used spells that were considered deadly moves, but to Koba it was just a brush off his shoulders because he was almost up before the count was finished. I had lie down on my stomach and looking up, I raised my chin, and put my fists on the ground struggling to push up from the ground. I got onto my knees, Koba seemed less enraged and mellower, and I think he realized he was fighting me, but he was still aggravated with my interference in his conflict with Carter. I got onto my feet and looked like I was ready to continue fighting, but I truly wasn't. "Kazu what did you do to yourself man?" Koba said with tears running down his face. "You know I would never hurt you!" he continued, still with tears. Tears ran down my face too, the emotions from earlier had been let loose. We were both truly happy to see each other from his absence, and in a way this was a way of welcoming one back. Koba walked forward to me, slowly, with a limp. I walked towards Koba with a tear still hanging from my eye, walking was difficult. Koba and I stood arms length apart. We embraced one another and neither of us let go, his tear landed on my shoulder as mine did to him. "I'm sorry about this buddy" I said. "SAPPHIRE NOW" Sapphire turned her hands left and locked Koba into place, he quickly looked up and our eyes met. "I'm sorry" I whispered. My hand lit with Magic energy, I put my arm on a bend and connected with his cheek, sending Koba down. It had to be done, and he will understand. I needed Sapphire to drain his energy through her telepathy during the fight so he was weak enough to be stopped by myself. Carter was lying down on the floor, face down, and probably unconscious. I'm sorry Koba, I love you. . .

It wasn't very long until Koba was awake again, and when he did he didn't recognize the guild hall, because there was barely anything left standing. It was going to be rebuilt over the course week. The damages were extensive however we were not being charged for them because the guild master didn't do anything to stop it. He very much knew what was going on, because he was watching the entire thing pan out from his balcony. Our master was watching for evaluation purposes mainly, the S-Class trials were going to come up soon, and he was scanning the competitors for it. The sunlight glared in through the window of the infirmary and connected to Koba's eyes. He blinked rapidly and rolled out of the crossfire of sun, covering his eyes he asked "Kazu what happened back there?"Bandages kept my body warm from my ribs to my arms, I was in severe pain and my back throbbed like a hammer beating steel into shape for a sword. "Well we tore up the guild hall, pretty badly, but quite an entrance I might add" I clapped my hands in a gesture which he understood that I was trying to create comic relief. "Is Masuf fuming?" he said laughing. "Well actually he's more than pleased with our magical capabilities, he said he didn't think we had it in us at such a young age." I said with an uneven tone. Koba dropped his jaw with awe, and I understood why. "He does however want to talk to the both of us, which can't be that good" I said fearful. "C'mon and get your stuff, I hate this place, it creeps me out". Koba took more than his sweet time to get ready, and we tried to sneak out of the infirmary without running into anyone. We opened the door to the hallway and looked both ways, and sprinted out of there. Both of us ached with every step, but we kept going, because that's what we did. "Wait!" I knew exactly who it was, as well as Koba. The two of us shook in our shoes and turned around. It was Master, and he signaled us to come towards him. He stood tall over the both of us, his gray hair slicked back and running down the back of his neck, he was a wider build than I remember him being. His chest puffed out and his jaw line was cut sharp and his stubble pinned onto his cheek and went diagonally towards his chin. Today he wore brighter colors, purple and red, not a suit, but a vest and jeans. We followed Master into his office, the only undamaged part of the guild. We sat down on two chairs when he held his hand out towards them. "Boys, the two of you have such a bright future, but although it's bright, it doesn't mean that you can follow whatever path you want, whether that be destruction, serenity, or even pacifist." He asked us if we followed and the both of us nodded signifying our cooperation. "Well what I'm getting at here is, you may be some of the best wizards in this guild" Koba and I were shocked by what he said, but he continued without time for our modesty to regain pace and bring us back to earth from our egotistical bubbles. ". . . You two posses great power, and I'd hate to see it go to waste over something so merely meaningless, like a girl" He eyed Koba, and I held in a chuckle. "These conflicts that the two of you have with Carter, they will be the death of you if you let them take over your actions and emotions, have some will power boys, it makes good character" we thought he was done but he continued on some more "Wind and lightning. . .the two combined make such a powerful storm, and storms can be devastating, keep that in mind will you." The Master excused us and Koba and I left immediately. After thanking Master for his time we closed the door and ran like we never have before in our lives. We made it to the street and took deep, giant breaths. There was such a great feeling in breathing in fresh air after being afraid to breath in front of Master. "Quite the lecture heh Koba" I said. "Wasn't as bad as I thought it'd be" he said exhaling like he's never done before in his life. Koba wanted to spend the day just us two, together. I had no issue with him wanting that. We were separated for too long and there was going to be no distractions while we caught up. Koba and I walked around town for hours and he told me of his adventures while he was away. Trying to get rides home was too frustrating he claimed, so he activated his flight magic and flew here a lot quicker than the magic trains were going. Koba endured a lot while he was away, I told him about everything, the park, the walks, and the spending time on my own. There wasn't anything I would keep from Koba, I even told him about running into Extinction, and believe me Koba was surprised. I told him about Mary coming back to search for him. Koba and Mary had a special connection. Mary was Koba's practical older sister; she guided him through his magic although she uses a completely different type of magic then him. The two of them trained together all throughout their lives and Mary exceeded her magic capabilities years ago, making Koba's pace too slow for her, but Mary still continued to teach him his magic, she put years of her life into training with him, and Koba was eternally grateful for that. Once Koba and I had had explained the basis of what one another missed, we decided to head home. It was a windy day, which I'm sure Koba loved, it put certain pep in his step. It wasn't long until we got home, although we would've been there faster if it wasn't for all the street vendors harassing us to buy their overpriced garbage, and besides, Koba and I were both short on money from our absence of work. Koba and I had finally gotten to the steps of our building and had went through the doors that were the threshold between the streets and a safe haven. I took my coat off and hung it on the rack parallel to the front doors, while Koba left his on; he said it was too cold. The house was quiet for once, Carter, nor Sapphire were home, and I was partially worried because I haven't heard from either of them, however it was a day of just Koba and I, so I relaxed my mind. There was an unsettled dispute in my own conscious because I was so unsure how to feel about Eravit, he was still out there, however he hasn't shown up in a few days, so maybe he was going to vanish for some time. The elections for mayor were being held this month, and a memorial was being built for the old one. His name was Charles D. Croaker. Charles was not the best of our mayors to lead this town, however he wasn't the worst we've had running the town. Koba had turned the coffee maker on that he just purchased earlier today because the one in the guild hall was broken, along with the guild itself. There is undeniably something different about the house, whether it was the smell, or whether it was the way the light bounced off the hardwood floors and reflected back from the glassy picture frames hanging on the wall. There was unarguably something different about the house. "Koba, do you notice anything different about the house?" I said with handfuls of concern. He shook his head in disbelief making me doubt myself. "Are you sure?" I asked repeatedly. Koba, again shook his head. There was a booming sound from upstairs that was felt throughout the entire house, Koba dropped the coffee pot creating a shattering sensation in my ears. Koba and I immediately rushed up the stairs leading into the corridor that connected the rooms together. Once rounded the stairs I spotted a man, turned around and facing the wall, but he had Sapphire in his hands, by her hair. I stopped moving and stood in my own tracks like a deer in headlights. Koba moved on past me and continued up the steps until he saw exactly what I had seen. Koba yelled with such piercing rage that it corrupted my eardrums and crippled their wellbeing. The man looked over his shoulder and I knew who it was, I spotted the eye patch over his eye, and the gold coloring of it reflected the light from my side of the hallway back to my direct line of sight. "Come and get her" Eravit laughed. Tears dripped down the left side of Sapphire's face and caught the bandage over her mouth; the cotton absorbed her tears making her suffering that much worse. Sapphire lifted her hand up and tried to grab me although I was so far away from her. Koba yelled once more "Let her go you coward!" And before anything else could be said Eravit had vanished into the air, leaving behind nothing but a trail of black smoke. Koba and I didn't take time to process what was going on, because we immediately knew what we were looking for. Carter. Koba and I barged through each door in search of Carter, and as ironic as it was, Koba found Carter before I did. He called me over and I ran through the door to get to him. Carter was lying in a puddle of his own blood and some of his own dignity as well. Carter's bow was lying on the bed that his head was resting on. Koba grabbed Carter's wrist and dragged him up so he was sitting up. The light showed the large gash across his forehead, and the one going down his arm. Both of his wounds were deep, and they were both black, mixed with his own blood. There was no time to spare, Koba and I put Carter on our shoulders, his arms around the both of us and we carried him downstairs. We immediately went out the front door, but I wisely grabbed my coat from the rack and put it on while Koba had held up all of Carter's weight on his own. I grabbed Carter's unconscious limbs and strung him up on my neck again, we walked him outside and into the street. The night time took over the sky and it started to make the mood worsen. The temperatures dropped drastically and I started to see my own breath igniting the path in front of me. Once Koba and I were to get Carter at the guild infirmary I think we both knew what we would do next. Sapphire was gone, and although it was partially Carter's fault for not protecting her, Koba and I should've stopped Eravit when we had the chance during our first encounter. Eravit would not survive the next encounter with Koba and I, rather one of us because we were equally as infuriated. The people that were still outside split themselves up creating a path for us to walk through, it made it easier so we didn't have to push people out of the way. Carter was starting to turn purple due to the temperatures. I looked up at the night sky and took notice of the flickering stars that created such a bright and luminescent light that lit the streets on their own. The moon was as beautiful as ever, with its harmonizing beauty that would tease the eye into such an astronomical wasteland of empowering light. The craters were visible on the surface of the moon, almost corrupting the everlasting beauty of it. The night sky was my guide, it was my guardian angel. To my eyes, the sky was a guide that could always be read properly, and the stars were always a direct path as to where I needed to go, it was as if someone was watching over me, trying to guide me in the path that I needed to be going in. The guild infirmary seemed to be a place our team was becoming too familiar with. And we were almost there, just a block more. Masuf was waiting outside of the infirmary for us, because he knew what had happened before we had even told him. We rushed Carter into his arms that almost collapsed from exhaustion. Masuf told us he'd take care of his wounds and then he took Carter inside and Koba and I turned around. We looked outwards towards the sea of modernized buildings and a vast, but limited array of hideouts for Eravit to be lurking inside of. Koba was angry; I could hear it with the way he breathes. He let out so much air, and inhaled so much back in. Koba was typically able to channel his anger into a specific energy that would enhance his magic capabilities, but with the recent events, he's lost his already impatient characteristics, making him more impatient than ever before. Clouds started to form overhead and a slight drizzle came down above us. I put my hood over my head which restrained most of my messy hair, but some leaked out into the front of my head. I had considered going back inside to form a search party and look for Sapphire, but I didn't want anyone else's help besides Koba, and I thought he would be thinking the same. Koba and I raced underneath a balcony to protect ourselves from the raindrops that kept on making us colder than we already were. I slid backwards against the wall and fell down, then tucking my knees into my chest and wrapping my arms around them trying to compress my body size to minimize the rain captured on myself. I had been trying to slowly puzzle together the motives of Eravit as of now. Eravit wanted something to do with me, however I was unsure why. He also wants to be the leader of our town, Tureina. So Eravit was trying to manipulate a sense of power of others onto him. He had successfully killed the mayor, and in some sick twisted way he had confused power with fear, thinking that killing Charles he would become the ruler of town, which wouldn't happen in reality, but in some reality, a false and twisted reality it could create the illusion that in a barbaric time he would become the rightful ruler. Eravit had a lack of morals, and ethics, and it was almost like he was from a different time. The way he treated others, how he thought killing the leader of the town was going to gain him power and make him a name to remember. Although his name was something to remember, it was an infamous marking that scarred over his name. Eravit was a man of magic talent, as well as intelligence, strategically. He knew exactly how to get to Koba and I, and he knew that he could easily overpower Carter, which is how he obtained Sapphire. "Kazu are you going to say something. . ." Koba said half silent. "I'm trying to figure this all out" just give me some time. Once I recollected my thoughts I remembered something. The Golden Eye on his shirt, it had to connect that to something! I scurried off my feet grabbing Koba's wrist I ran towards the infirmary in an attempt to find Masuf. I ran through the doors and sliding across the floor from the wetness of my boots I trampled my way up the stairs and reached the room Carter was going to be in. Masuf was sitting right there, with his arms crossed watching the door. Like he was anticipating me to come through the door or with his insight he figured it out before I had. "Master Masuf, I need your help with something" I said with excitement. He looked as if he already knew what I was going to follow that up with, but he played innocence like a charm and smoothed me over. "What do you need Kazu?" He asked clueless. "A Golden Eye, a hollowed eye, what does it mean?" I asked with concerning tone. "Well the last I've heard of the Golden Eye cult, which was almost twenty years ago, they were trying to reactivate a device that could revive an ancient demon named Jiol, Jiol was a wicked demon that could destroy land just by lifting his eyebrow. He created monstrosities that wreaked havoc on human life as we know it. Half of the world's population was slaughtered by his creations a thousand years ago. Luckily there was a group of wizards called the Raitoningu warriors. These warriors, which I believe were four in total were some of the most powerful lightning wizards of all time. These four wizards used different types of lightning magic, almost like your own. There was a warrior that used Blue lightning magic, Red lightning, Purple lightning, and even Black lightning which was the most devastating. These four warriors sealed away Jiol with their combined strength, killing all of them involved." It all made sense to me now, my magic, its origins, and its purpose. "Where do you think Eravit has Sapphire Master?" "ERAVIT HAS SAPPHIRE" Master exclaimed. He hit both Koba and I multiple times for not telling him. "Well if I had to guess I would say it'd be in the mountains outside of town, there were rumors of a sacred burial spot for one of Jiol's monsters. I took advantage of Master's knowledge and further investigated through conversation where the burial spot was located. Once our discovery was made, we asked Master to stay with Carter while Koba and I "went home". The Master gladly agreed and Koba and I took notice to his lack of proficiency and quickly stepped out of the room. We both knew where we were going, and that was to get Sapphire. It was approximately an hour's walk to get to the mountains on the outskirts of town, and another half hour from there to reach Jiol's monster's burial site. The walk there was quiet, which was a gratifying pleasure because I was still puzzling my involvement in Eravit's plans. Was it something to do with my magic? Yes, I think that's what this all was about. My magic is powerful enough, when combined with my ancestor's to defeat Jiol's monsters. Eravit was eliminating all outcomes of failure by disposing of me. He couldn't risk defeat; it was too high of a chance that I could stop him and his plan to release the devil's creations. The hills were in walking distance by now, and the clouds were visible, even this late at night. Somewhere not far from where we were was a beam of light that lit up the night sky and spread apart the clouds surrounding it. I looked at Koba, as he did to me, and we both used our magic to travel. I encased myself with my lightning and soared through the skies, and when I looked to my right, there was Koba. We were close to the mountains, I felt like one with nature, like something that connected me to the earth, I felt alive, and empowered. There was something relaxing about creating my own flight path to the mountains, despite our current situation. I felt a strong breeze from behind me, which then turned into a wicked wind that blasted, passed me. I didn't know what it was; neither did Koba by the look of his face. The mountain was a few hundred feet below us, Koba and I gently lowered ourselves down to the earth. I looked at Koba, then in front of me, there was a crippled arch holding up wide tunnels in the mountain, it was made of stone, and there was a skull sealed into the mountain. Koba looked at me, and I to him, we proceed up the long path of stairs to the entrance, it was a tremendous flight of stairs. I hurried up the stairs and I was trying to keep pace with Koba, however that wasn't possible. When we reached the entrance there was men scattered across the floor, already unconscious, or even dead. Dozens and dozens of men were just lying across the floor, some were up against the walls still cowering in fear from who knows what. Koba looked confused, but I thought I knew what was going on here. Koba didn't wait to find out, he scurried through the halls yelling Sapphire's name over and over again. There was an echoing moan through the halls, and they moved quickly through them. Someone beat us here, but who? These halls were covered in engravings, demonic writing, and sacrificial sayings. Stained with corruption and twisted into some sort of happy thought for the victims of Jiol's power. There was no sanctity in these walls, besides the few people in between them. There was no haven, and there was no promised land of safety, there was just something about them that screamed chaos. These halls were long, incredibly long, they took time to maneuver through, and the torch lights on the end and beginning of each hallway was barely enough to show the way through them. A woman screamed at the end of the hall, but from behind there was a scorching hot fire that emerged into a wave to sweep the hallway. Koba turned around in time to dismiss the flames, or so I thought he did, these flames were not flames, they were solid, it was lava. The lava went through Koba's winds, and they struck him and left a burn across his arms that he held up. I turned around held up both of my hands, my magic circle appeared and I created some light to view what was in front of me. It was a boy, he looked about our age, he was wearing black shorts and boots, he had a red t shirt on, it was tight. His hair was a burning red, but with some darkness in it. His eyes were also red, he didn't look friendly, and clearly he wasn't. There was one last piece to his attire, a sleeveless vest that covered everything but his arms and the center of his stomach, he also had a hood up. Once I realized he wasn't one of us, I shot lightning out into a number of directions, covering the entire surface of the hallway. The person on the end of the hallway had swiped his arms upward quickly and created an earth pillar that rose just as quickly as his arms. He had completely blocked my lightning, rendering it useless. I was speechless; he used lava, as well as earth? How is that possible? We were in such a small space, it was so narrow, it was too difficult to fight in such a small space. Koba sprinted in front of me and held his two hands in front of him, creating a vicious wind that started tearing apart the walls. We used this time to run towards the woman's screams. We hustled towards the end of the tunnel and we kept on running. There was a piercing light that shone through the creeks in a wooden door. The screams were getting louder. Koba dropped his shoulder and plowed through the door. There we were, enclosed in a dome with the man that split us up, but with the girl we came looking for. I quickly looked around the dome, and spotted who I couldn't believe was there, it was Mary. Mary looked weakened, she was fighting, what looked like herself, it was her masked in darkness, a silhouette of herself. She was losing noticeably, and she was driven directly in front of us by her silhouette. "Mary!" Koba exclaimed, Mary didn't respond she just held up her arm and charged at her shadow. I spotted Sapphire directly in the center of the dome. She was unconscious. I spotted Eravit as well, his arms crossed watching this slaughter of Mary. "Mary you need help!" I yelled. Mary was once again delivered right in front of us. "Kazu, Koba I need you two to get out of here, I can handle this all, I know you don't want him, but you need Extinction! He's the only one who can stop this!" I felt insulted, as did Koba, we looked at each other and we both knew what we were thinking. "Mary stay down!" I yelled "Eravit you're next you bitch" I said with a smug look on my face. Koba grabbed my arms and swung me around as fast as he could. When he let go of me I was aimed towards Mary's shadow. I covered my hands in lightning and held them in front of me. I electrocuted the silhouette; this created a mass combustion that sent me back towards Koba, but the silhouette into the wall. I quickly got back onto my feet and stood ready, Koba looked fierce. The silhouette sprinted forward and her eyes had started glowing a vibrant red. I noticed a sword pulled from air and the shadow charged even faster at us. I spun my lightning blade up into my hands and charged towards the shadow. Koba propelled me faster with his winds. I pierced directly through the shadow, and it had fallen. Once it was down, Koba unleashed his winds to dissipate the shadow into nothing but a bad dream. I looked over at Eravit, "You're up next bi-"through the door Koba and I came from, that boy with red hair emerged. He launched himself into Koba spreading his lava outward after he directed a kick into his head. Koba rolled back up onto his feet, he looked angry. Koba rolled forward dodging in between this man's lava, and put his hands in front of his mouth, Koba used his dragon roar and his wind started tearing up the ground beneath us. The boy rolled forward like Koba and put his hands in front of his mouth. I was startled, I had no clue he was about to unleash his own Dragon roar. Lava started spewing out of his mouth and transformed into a vicious fire that clashed with Koba's wind, Eravit stood smug, and he looked uninterested. The two started breathing heavier and more of their magic came unleashed. Koba's wind came out quicker and quicker and poured into the mysterious beauty of the wind and lava that swirled and eventually gave out on both sides, shooting upward and spewing from each side, they're beams of magic imploded from both sides and both Koba and this boy were moving backwards by force, until they stopped. Both of them heavily panting and both of them were eyeing each other down. Eravit walked around the field, and placed next to the boy, he spoke "I see you're very interested in my apprentice, his name is Simon, but we call him The Burning Fear around here" We stood in awe and watched Eravit make his speech mocking us once more. "He uses Lava dragon slayer magic, it's one of a kind, as you can imagine." Fear looked at us, with a menacing smile and with a piercing look in his eyes. Koba stepped forward, and he clenched his fists, and cracked his knuckles. "Finally another dragon slayer, let's see what you got bitch" Koba exclaimed. Koba dashed towards Simon and used his wind to move even quicker, Simon wrapped his arm in lava and launched himself at Koba. Koba wrapped his arm in his winds and launched himself at Simon. The two's fists collided and it sent everyone in the room upwards. Simon and Koba both were propelled by the force of each other's attack, both of them sent backwards. I landed on my back and rolled up to my feet quickly, anticipating danger around me, however Eravit was far away, and he looked unworried about everything. There was something about his behavior it seemed at ease, like there was nothing that he could be bothered by, he turned his head and we made eye contact, he mocked me with a wink. Simon landed to my left and he was entirely out of breath. I glanced up and noticed Koba taunting Simon. Simon lifted his hands, and put both of them in front of him, his magic circle turned black, and slowly faded to red, only to change back to black. Simon's lava turned into a much darker red and consumed a large portion of the room; the lava then surged throughout and proceed to Koba's side of the dome. Koba quickly encased himself in his air and ran through the Lava wall, flipping upwards and trying to connect with Simon's chest, but Simon stepped out of the way and once he moved out of the way, Koba fell right into the trap. Eravit moved his arms in a circle and then pushed them forward; Koba was chained to the ground with Eravit's darkness. I charged towards Eravit, unleashing several lightning discs at him, Eravit faded through the lightning, he was moving too fast. Eravit surrounded me with his shadows, all of them beating me with senseless punches that were inaccurate but effective. I felt the damage from those punches, and I fell to my knees. I looked over my right shoulder and spotted Koba being used as target practice for Simon's lava. I fell onto my back and looked up, I felt so weak, but something pulsed through me, it was something I had never felt before. My arms and legs started tingling; I wasn't able to see straight. I felt a jolt of energy pulse through me, once the current left I stood up onto my feet. Shards of red lightning started moving around me, I felt empowered, dangerous, and lethal. I turned once more staring at Simon, he watched me in fear. I charged at Simon at speeds faster than ever before, faster than my own lightning, I threw discs of red lightning at Simon; they all hit him, all of them exploding. Simon bounced in between my red lightning discs, and tried to escape them, but I was too fast. I felt like I was teleporting, I was so quick and so deadly, I was behind him before he even knew it, Simon looked puzzled, I struck him with my fists in both red lightning and blue lightning. Simon was almost about to fall to his knees, when I moved around to the other side of him before he could even get to his knees, I hit him upwards with an empowering red lightning kick. Koba was released from the chains that he was in, he had regained some of his strength, rolling onto his feet he unleashed his wind dragon roar making Simon hit the ceiling, Simon must've been unconscious, as he started to fall to the ground, Koba wounded up his arm and wrapped it in wind, he used his dragon wind fist hitting Simon into the ground. He had lied there, in a crater of rubble and sorrow. Koba looked at Eravit and Eravit back at us, he looked nervous now. "What's the matter Eravit, afraid of something" I said while the red lightning sparked around me. "Not at all you immature little teenage punk, give it your best shot." Eravit stood tall above us. My body was fully evolved into a red lightning bolt; I sped towards Eravit and passed Koba, before either of them even knew what had happened. I drilled Eravit backwards into the wall, creating some space between us, I whipped several discs of lightning at him, all faster than the speed of light, the connected as one disc, that exploded and created a cloud of smoke and fire that let me move back to Koba. Eravit pushed off the ground using one hand and rolled his foot around in a circle, he absorbed a lot of damage, but it barely looked like enough to even stagger him. Koba looked nervous, but I wasn't, I felt so powerful, but maybe that was my naivety. "So you two like to surprise me don't you, well how about this for a surprise" Eravit pointed his two hands at the ground creating two black circles of magic, up from them came mirror images of both Koba and I. I looked over at Koba and he looked over at me, "Take our own" he said. I matched up with my shadow, I lifted a bolt of red lightning from the ground beneath me, I grasped it and wielded it as a sword, my shadow did the same as I did. Koba wounded up both of his arms and encased them both with wind, he charged his shadow, and his shadow did the same thing he did. I collided with my shadow, and we engaged in a fight with our bolts, slicing and maneuvering our bolts at each other, ducking underneath his swipe from above, and tried to kick out his feet, but he saw it coming and drilled the bolt through my chest. I felt damaged, much weaker, but he looked stronger. Koba and his shadow collided with their fists, creating an outburst of wind that launched everyone into the walls. Rolling off the concrete wall and back into a position I whipped my arms from behind my head to the front of my body, I unleashed several bolts of lightning to hit my shadow, only one of them came close. Koba was underneath his shadow being pummeled into the ground with bursts of wind that were creating pressure between Koba and the concrete. I threw a bolt of lightning at Koba's shadow, except now it was blue; however the bolt still struck Koba's shadow giving Koba some leeway to fight back. I was unaware of the position of my shadow, because before I knew it, I was electrocuted from behind, launching myself into Eravit he caught me with a kick that was chased by his shadow magic from below that relocated me towards the floor. I noticed that I was significantly weaker from the start of the battle, but then it clicked. I couldn't land a single hit on my shadow, but I was able to damage Koba's shadow instead. "Koba!" I yelled from the floor, I was hoping he heard me, "switch shadows!". I got onto my feet and noticed Eravit looked worried, that was it, I had figured him out. I flew forward at Koba's shadow, and tackled him into the wall, I covered my fists with blue lightning with sparks of red and unleashed what felt like a hundred punches, Koba's shadow and dissipated into nothing, before I could turn around I heard the same noise made from my own shadow, and it had disappeared. Koba was on one side of the room, Eravit was in the middle, and Mary was unconscious near the entrance. "This is what we've been waiting for Eravit, to get revenge." I felt the power pulsing through me once more, the sparks of red lightning had started turning into actual bolts of lightning, which jolted around me in a circle. Koba's winds started to pick up around him and his hair was blowing in different directions. Eravit cracked his knuckles, and ripped his shirt from his chest. He signaled at both of us to come at him. Koba and I both unleashed a yell while we charged at him. Eravit palmed a ball of his shadow magic and threw it at the ground, capturing both Koba and I in it, it shot upwards into the ceiling and held us in place. It was impossible to see from the inside, it was a tornado of darkness. Eravit dashed in and out of the circle he created hitting Koba and I numerous times with his shadow magic. I felt the shots connecting with my body, but I still felt strong. The vortex vanished and I landed on my feet, as did Koba. Koba and I stood side by side facing Eravit who was about fifteen feet in front of us. Koba quickly lifted up his hands creating an X, but this time without his index fingers, he uses his entire hand to create a punishing blast of wind that hollowed out the inside. I moved along side it and shot my red lightning into the vortex of wind Koba had created. Eravit was hit directly with our move and the impact was brutal, it was the biggest combustion effect I had ever seen before, except Koba and I didn't even flinch, we kept our feet planted. Eravit didn't. I raised my arm in the air, clenching my fist a large ball of blue and red lightning appeared above me, I stared at Eravit while he had layed there on the ground, he watched the ball grow larger, I let my fist drop towards Eravit and the ball was sent at wicked speeds. Eravit felt the full effects of my magic and he was almost vaporized, or so I thought. Eravit sank through the floor last second and appeared behind Koba and I, striking us both with a kick across our heads that sent us towards the explosion of lightning. The explosion had blinded both Koba and I momentarily and it left us vulnerable to another blast of shadow punches in our backs. Koba had gotten to his feet faster than I did and he quickly used his wind dragon roar to obliterate everything in front of him. Eravit flipped sideways dodging the blast of wind and quickly unleashed another set of shadows that turned to fists to strike Koba hundreds of times. I rose to my feet in an instant and charged myself with red lightning, I had made a direct path for Eravit, wrapping my arms around his waist I had drilled him into the wall once more, except this time once I had created space for myself I held my hands an equal distance apart, then creating a bolt of lightning that flickered blue, but was mostly red, I unleashed this bolt at Eravit. His eyes widened and he felt death was imminent. The bolt had demolished his side of the room, and Eravit was lying on his back, facing upwards he looked like he was aching in pain. I fell to my knees, and I felt most of my magic energy vanish. Koba ran to my aid and helped me back onto my two feet. It was over, or so we thought. Eravit pushed himself off the ground once more and cracked his neck side to side, followed by his knuckles. Eravit raised his hand like I did earlier, creating his own sphere of shadow energy, he looked me in the eyes and mocked me, I stood up on my own pushing Koba out of the way, I didn't know what to do. I created a shield made from my own lightning, hundreds and hundreds of bolts to block the danger that had lied before me. When suddenly Eravit couldn't move, he was locked into place, and the ball of shadows disappeared. "Get him boys!" I heard Sapphire yell. Quickly I aimed all the bolts of lightning at Eravit, they all merged into one gigantic bolt of lightning, the red and blue merged into one, creating purple, but then the blue tint left and remained red. I unleashed a beam of lightning energy that was strong enough to kill him, Koba blasted his wind at the bolt, launching the bolt at incredible speeds that had combusted with Eravit once they connected. We were all sent soaring backwards, landing on our backs, and nobody moving for a matter of minutes. I had gotten to my feet, and slowly I crept my way to Eravit, he was lying there. The room was destroyed and it felt like the mountain was going to collapse any moment. Boulders dropped from above crushing parts of the floor, and making more craters than there were. I got near Eravit, he was lying down in a pile of rubble, "Games over you bastard" I said with relief. A sinister laugh overcame my victory, it was coming from Eravit, "You fool, I was stalling you, and Jiol will be set free" I looked backwards into the center, a purple and black cylinder had started to form, I quickly looked back at Eravit, and startled that he was missing. I turned once more to the cylinder, and there he was. "I will summon him, and there's nothing you can do to stop me!" Mary arose from the ground, and held out her sword, it turned golden, as well as her armor. "Kazu take care of everyone, I'll never forget you" Mary cried in one last act of defiance. "Mary no!" Mary put her sword straight through Eravit's chest, knocking the two of them into the cylinder. The ground started to shake, and a bright white flash overcame the room. I looked at Koba and Sapphire, still lying there; I sprinted towards them trying to bring them to some sort of safety. The ceiling was collapsing, and the purple cylinder in the center of the room expanded outward, then collapsing creating a mass explosion, and that was the last I remember of that day.

I slowly opened my eyes, catching the tips of my hair, I blew them out of the way, I was in the infirmary. I angled my chin down to see my body, there was bandages wrapping most of my torso up. I looked around me and noticed Koba, Sapphire and Carter were all in the room with me, lying in their own individual cot. The cots weren't comfortable here, they were scratchy and rugged, and it was rough on the skin. My back was soaked in my own sweat; it was a new trait I picked up, excessive sweating. Koba moaned from his cot, and he must've thought it woke me up because when he looked over he said "Kazu I didn't mean to wake you, go and rest" followed by a significant amount of coughs. Sapphire than arose from her cot, but she looked much better than the rest of us, only a small bruise building up under her right eye. She expanded her arms and made a loud yawn that could've been heard from down the hall. Carter was much better by now, there was a bandage across his arm that stretched around his neck. Sapphire noticed we were both awake and looked over with a huge grin covering her face, she didn't speak but instead mouthed the words "Thank you" to the both of us. She had lied back down and slowly faded to her sleep. For most of that morning I had just lie in that incredibly uncomfortable cot, and I would doze off now and then, but for the most part I was wide awake, constantly thinking about Mary. I don't think Koba even realizes what had happened to her, and truthfully it is probably for the best that he didn't, at least for the time being. My wounds had been writhing in pain for as long as I could remember that day, even in my periods of slumber I would notice the pain leaking into my unconscious mind. Most of my body was aching and the rest of it was absolutely numb, like the right side of my face didn't feel like it was there, but was it? I rubbed my hand against my face to reassure my paranoia, laughing I lowered my hands and tried to get out of that uncomfortable pit, that they make you lay in. The rails on the side of my cot were isolating me from the ground, and lowering them required an abundance of strength, but I managed. I slid my feet over the edge of the cot and rolled my body up and over till I could stabilize on my feet. The door was left half open, but wide enough for the nurses to periodically check in on us without having to fully participate in the room's disengaging atmosphere.


End file.
